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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28982163">Black Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd/pseuds/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd'>HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Ghosts, M/M, Ugly Mermaid, captain trio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:00:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>52,492</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28982163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd/pseuds/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A long ago legend of a mermaid pulled from the sea starts to unravel a long buried secret in a sleepy fishing town - Luffy, Kid and Law find themselves being forced to confront the issue, exposing the truth. Unfortunately, their efforts aren't appreciated as they find themselves fighting for their lives against ghosts, mermaids and old, angry men. *COMPLETED*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Trafalgar D. Water Law/Vinsmoke Sanji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Another completed story from the other site. Title inspired by “Black Water”, OMAM. This is a story of three idiots trying to clumsily solve an age old spat - between the three of them, they could do it, right?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>ONE</strong>::</p><p>"'<em>If you got leavin' on your mind, tell me now, get it over</em>…'"</p><p>The woman's voice woke him from a sound sleep. Trafalgar Law inhaled sharply, sitting straight up in his bed. His heart was racing wildly, pounding hard against his chest. His lungs felt so tight that it was near impossible to breathe – the darkness of his room smothered him with a near physical presence, his throat clenched within such a tight grip that his shaking fingers went to it quickly to loosen the presence there. But he touched only his hot skin, sweaty with raging fear.</p><p>"'<em>Hurt me now, get it over</em>…'"</p><p>He wasn't sure where the voice was coming from. He looked around himself, blinking rapidly. His room was dark and still, the shapes of shadows being revealed as harmless objects. The curtains over his window were opened a crack, allowing the lights from outside to make their presence.</p><p>"'<em>If you got leavin' on your mind</em>.'"</p><p>It was <em>music</em>, he realized. Old country – he wasn't sure of the artist, but she had a melancholic voice. His brow furrowed heavily in response as the song continued from a distance he couldn't measure. He wiped his face with a shaking hand, unsure of the waking reaction.</p><p>He swung his legs off the bed, settling his bare feet onto the cold floor. There was a cricket in the house – it sang just as noisily as the music playing. It gave him the shivers, knowing there was an insect running about. Clutching the edge of his mattress, he stared at the floor to collect his thoughts. He realized his nightshirt was clinging to him – he pulled at it with a mystified action, startled at how his sweat had forced the material to mold up against him. It felt like it had been pulled directly from the washer, and left behind a large stain on his bed.</p><p>Shaking his head, he rose from his bed. He removed his wet shirt and tossed it to the floor, crossing over to his dresser. He found a new shirt and pulled that one on.</p><p>The song ended suddenly, the cricket ceasing its noise. For a few moments, the silence was startling. In its place was the rapture of a quiet house – nothing moved, and his breath felt thin as it left him.</p><p>He wasn't even sure what he'd dreamed to cause this reaction. He opened his door and left his room.</p><p>: :</p><p>In the kitchen, he headed straight for the coffee machine. The window blinds were opened, allowing the soft lights of the outside to drift in, illuminating his way around the small house. The ticking of a clock somewhere allowed him to note that this was the only sound. He couldn't recall anything about his dream that made him uneasy, but there was a feeling awakened in him that made his movements jerky and his mind unsettled. His brow remained heavy as he fixed coffee.</p><p>The house he shared with his colleagues was a hand-me-down; it demanded occasional repairs and emitted occasional sounds that gave away anyone's positions. Nestled within some trees in a low canyon just outside of the small fishing town, it was out of the way yet visible by those on main street. It was a creaky house – so when he heard the gentle creaks of incoming steps, he assumed it was one of the others that heard him rustling around in the kitchen.</p><p>Yet all the hairs on his arms rose, and his skin pimpled. Already uneasy from waking up, he ended up turning his head to see who it was coming into the kitchen. The creaking stopped. Not one to enjoy anyone's jokes so early in the morning after such restless sleep, he felt his face grow heavy with a frown.</p><p>He looked over at the narrow hallway that led to their bedrooms, expecting to see a familiar face. There was enough light in the darkness to allow him to see clearly down the hall – no physical way anybody could just disappear without opening a door along the way.</p><p>Seeing nothing, he attributed the noise to the house settling as wood popped against the cold air. He returned his attention to the coffee machine, a lone shadow pulling away from the hall. The shape of a man took formation to the dining room table.</p><p>The scrape of a chair across the thick quiet and bubbling coffee machine caused Law to jerk wildly, turning to look. He did note that a chair was pulled from the table, and he hastily walked out from around the counter to see if any one of the others had hastily crouched underneath the table. He flicked on the light, but there was no one there. Mystified, he stared at the single chair for some time, hoping the noise hadn't awakened anyone else. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he turned the light off and returned his uneasy attention to the coffee machine. The shape at the table remained there while he fixed a cup.</p><p>: :</p><p>"I don't listen to that stuff."</p><p>"Old country? I don't even listen to <em>new</em> country."</p><p>"We blast rock here, not that old timey stuff."</p><p>"You sure you weren't just smoking again?"</p><p>Amidst the normal sounds of moving flatware, bacon sizzling in the frying pan, everyone's morning grumbles caused Law some distress. He took a sip of his coffee, looking at everyone skeptically as they ate breakfast. All of them were getting ready for another day at sea, and all of them had normal morning attitude. In response to his question, none of them looked like they had the patience to answer.</p><p>Eustass Kid was busy stuffing his mouth, Luffy was in the middle of chewing. All of them dressed for another cold day on the sea. All of them randomly tossed together on assignment to bring in fish for commercial processing. This season wasn't the best – almost every fisherman had a disappointing story to tell and another day dealing with failure. It was almost as if this side of the world had its fish chased from the sea depths to flee something only they could identify.</p><p>Law finished cooking his share of breakfast. He tossed burnt strips of bacon down onto the table, the other two looking at it with disgust. But Luffy ate them anyway, wearing a teary expression.</p><p>Kid gestured at Law as he sat. "Now you're going to take it out on us?"</p><p>"If you're hungry, you'll eat," Law said simply, taking what was left of the eggs and crisp biscuits.</p><p>"This isn't helping anybody."</p><p>"Hopefully today's better than yesterday," Luffy said on a sigh, drinking the rest of the apple juice.</p><p>The sea was tumultuous – throwing up waves that slammed over onto the wet deck and rocking the forty foot vessel into dangerous tilts. Their nets were mostly empty by the time Kid decided to call it a day – from the radio, it appeared they weren't the only ones that were at such a disadvantage. Luffy leaned against the railing in full gear, hat doing nothing to protect him from the overhead spray. He stared down at the dark waters below, unable to imagine what was happening down there. Even on the sunniest of days, he couldn't see that far into the watery depths.</p><p>In some places, he'd been able to see whales passing by, or schools of fish that meandered unknowingly into their casted nets. Out there in these angry waters was only an inky darkness reminiscent of the night sky without stars. He wished he were some type of mermaid or sea creature; able to dive deep and breathe in freely, to see for himself why the waters were so empty.</p><p>"This area's known to be polluted by illegal growers," Kid shouted from the opened hatch. "Maybe that shit's running too much into the sea from the mouth over there."</p><p>Law shrugged in response because none of this was to his expertise. He worked nets to pay off old debts – he didn't care much for the surroundings. Luffy was in it for the adventure – and because his dying grandpa willed it so.</p><p>Kid scratched at an ear, glaring out at the stormy waters. Thick storm clouds had taken residence in the distance, blowing wind causing loose pieces to rattle and protest around their vessel. "Might as well as pack it in."</p><p>Law agreed with them. The cold air beat around them, pushed water over their boots. Swept away Luffy's wadded gum and a candy stick that he was supposed to throw into the cabin.</p><p>They could see other ships pulling in, their occupants wearing similar disappointed expressions. Law braced himself as he intended on heading into the cabin with Kid, Luffy lurching in that direction away from the railing. With their attention off the sea, none of them were prepared by the hard lift and twist of reaching waves. Their mast touched the harsh waves before the entire boat tilted onto its side and sent them all plunging into the waters.</p><p>The shock of the cold depths held the punch of something massive – knocked breath from their lungs and stunned their internal systems. Flailing in the darkness with clothes that weighed down their movement did nothing to help them. Their overturned vessel caused a dangerous cut through the water, separating them from each other as they were cut in the slipstream.</p><p>All Law really noticed was the violence in the stark silence of the water. He'd expected to hear the roar of the surface, the bubbling of the vessel as it up-righted and burst upward from the waves. He expected to hear the bubbling of his own panicked movements as he made to swim up. But he heard absolutely <em>nothing</em>. Similar to the stark silence of their house earlier that morning.</p><p>The darkness was comparable – smothering stillness that only seemed to crush him from the outside. It felt like all his senses had been shocked into nothing. He stared at the darkness around him with an unblinking expression, lungs screaming in protest as he held in his breath. The world underneath the surface was a different one from above – he couldn't see below and he couldn't see above – caught in suspension that refused to give him any useful information. His ears began to feel a relentless pressure that rocked his sinuses, and he clasped his hands over his nose and mouth to prevent from breathing in.</p><p>His legs swept around him, jacket caught in a currant's ripple. It jerked his entire body around violently, like someone had just grabbed him from behind and yanked with all the force of a moving car. Fear began to thrum deep inside of him as he realized he could be pulled all the way out into the sea without any way back. Drowned in the middle of nothingness. He stretched out his arms to swim out of the current, pulling out of his jacket to do so. It fluttered behind him like a scarecrow, holding a human's shape for an impossible moment before crumbling up into a fleeting flutter. He saw light flickering above him, stretching his hands towards it in a bid to return to the surface.</p><p>Fingers wrapped around his ankle and pulled. For a moment, Law thought one of the others had been caught in the same current and he looked back in terror as air bubbles escaped him. The action could kill them both, but what if he lost one of his friends?</p><p>He saw nothing, but the weight was ghastly. He realized with horror that he was being pulled away from the light. The strength in those fingers were immense, prompting him to look down. He'd kick free if he had to – apologize later if he had the chance.</p><p>Instead of seeing either Luffy or Kid's scared face, he looked at what could only be expressed as a shadowy figure. There was light below, allowing Law a glimpse of gently tussled sand and rock, debris from the world from above. His ears popped then once again filled with overwhelming pressure. He thought he could hear his own shaky breathing but he was for certain that he was holding his breath. The sound seemed to echo all around him, but he knew that was impossible. The shadow clung to him, and there was another weight applied to his calf – as if two hands had grasped him firmly.</p><p>Law struggled to move his arms – maybe it was only kelp. Seaweed, the remnants of someone's lost net. He pulled closer to the surface, struggling to hold his breath for longer. His fingers sliced through the cold water, stretching for the faint wisp of light. Something was roaring in his ears, weighing against his teeth. Move pressure on his leg, as if that shadow was using his body to climb him like a ladder. The weight was unbearable – he couldn't move.</p><p>Law kicked frantically, lungs screaming. He ended up breathing it in and expelling with horror, his hands searching for something useful to grasp onto. His entire body shuddered, everything seemingly releasing and threatening to erupt as if being forced to expel. The pressure on his leg moved up to his hip and suddenly he was being dragged further into the depths of the sea. A strange sort of desperation fueled him to push harder.</p><p>In the quiet of the sea, a low whisper made itself known: "<em>Don't leave me here</em>…"</p><p>Images smudged by the unknown filtered through his thoughts and memory. Moving too fast for him to process. Maybe it was the light flashing before his eyes. He was dying. He couldn't breathe. His lungs felt like they were on fire as he breathed in again, stomach filling with water. He coughed but it wasn't working – nothing was working.</p><p>"<em>Don't leave me here</em>…"</p><p>There was a strange music to those words, and Law realized that these weren't spoken word. His body gave a heavy twitch, and his muscles couldn't push any further. He kept breathing, even as his brain told him not to. He screamed because this was his end, and panic was the only feeling he felt. Arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck, clasping so tightly onto them that it was as if Luffy were strangling him. He had the impression that the person on his back was pushing him closer to the softly moving ground beneath him.</p><p>"<em>Don't leave me</em>…"</p><p>: :</p><p>When he awoke he gasped noisily, coughing moments later from the force of his inhalation. Luffy spit out the hamburger he had been eating while Kid jerked to his feet, flailing for something to grab onto. Every part of Law felt sore and heavy, and his lungs burned as he inhaled deeply. Panic had his blood running hot and forcefully, filling him with such violence that it was almost as if he'd exerted himself suddenly.</p><p>Luffy stared at him wide-eyed as he chewed. Kid clutched his chest, breathing heavily while Law regained his bearings. The soft sounds of a hospital setting told Law that he was in a safe place.</p><p>"Welcome back," Luffy told him, ketchup and tomato seeds smeared around his mouth. He reached for steak fries in the nearby container that sat atop of the table. The hospital room was quiet, and there was another occupant staring at Law from across the way, eyes wide.</p><p>"Don't <em>do</em> that!" Kid snapped at Law, fanning his face. "You looking to get hit?"</p><p>Law touched his own chest. The more cohesive he grew, the more the pains in his body seemed to fade away. His lungs stopped aching – his throat, which had felt raw and stripped from screaming underwater, was fine. His head wasn't ringing. The pressure against his ears was gone. He wasn't even hooked up to oxygen, and there was only a blood pressure device attached to his wrist, which began to tighten automatically on a timed schedule. The other two had been watching a basketball game.</p><p>"I'm not dead," he said to himself, awed at the realization.</p><p>Luffy gave him a skeptic expression. "<em>Duh</em>," he said. "Doc only wanted you admitted because you complained about not being able to breathe."</p><p>"Stress," Kid sneered at Law, who looked at the pair incredulously, noticing that he was in his street clothes. Dry, clean clothes that he hadn't even worn in a week because he hadn't washed them. He patted his chest. "Like none of us are stressed out."</p><p>"…Stress?" Law repeated dumbly, hand to his heart. "No, we were knocked out of the boat – "</p><p>"That was a <em>week</em> ago, Law," Luffy said, rolling his eyes. "We were knocked out the boat a <em>week</em> ago! We been fine after we got back in."</p><p>Law stared at him in silence.</p><p>Kid crossed his arms and gave Law a stern look. "You weren't hit in the head, were you?"</p><p>"I…" Law trailed off, looking at them both in confusion. He could vividly remember the weight of the water, the struggle he put forth in survival. His heart and lungs tightened at the remembrance of it. He furrowed his brow – the way the pair were carrying on, nothing had happened. But he remembered dying – there was no mistaking the feeling of fire in his lungs and the heaviness of water in his gut. The panic of drowning crowding out his every senses. He looked to Kid. "'<em>Stress'</em>?"</p><p>"Yeah. Maybe some Post Traumatic crap for you, city kid," Kid said with a snort. He looked overly exasperated while Luffy continued looking at Law with dubious teenage disbelief. "You're such a fucking weirdo."</p><p>Law was silent, processing their words – trying to understand them. He was positive he'd drowned – maybe they were all dead, living out their afterlife in a realistic hospital setting. A cruel joke of God. But the man staring at him from across the room wasn't part of his drowning experience.</p><p>Law wiped his face. "Sorry," he apologized low, wearing a confused expression. He swallowed tightly. He could still taste the sea in his mouth. "I must've…I had a weird dream."</p><p>"Awake?" Kid asked skeptically. "Because we were all in discussion, here. I'm thinking you did this deliberately because you're the only one in this room for Lebron."</p><p>Law looked to the television screen skeptically while Luffy looked at him again.</p><p>"Lebron isn't the answer," he whispered.</p><p>"So I wasn't asleep?" Law pressed.</p><p>"NO!" both of them exclaimed at the same time. Kid pulled away from his chair. "I'm going to get the doc – maybe get him to convince you that weed isn't the answer."</p><p>Law looked to Luffy as Kid let himself out of the room. Luffy finally wiped his mouth. "I don't know what to tell you, man," Luffy said with a sigh. "You're acting weird."</p><p>Unsure of what to say, Law looked at his hands. He wasn't sure what to think.</p><p>: :</p><p>Later that night, Law sat at the edge of his bed. Time had passed on without him, somehow. His room had the obvious indication that he had been here – living his life as he did day to day but without him present. What had happened below those waves? The knowledge that he had no idea left him feeling shaken. He could not abandon the thought that he'd died down there. Everything was still so vivid in his muscle memory and thought that it was as if he'd emerged from the water himself.</p><p>The doctor had prescribed him Ambien and strict instructions to take it easy over the next few days. He also passed along the name of a good therapist to help Law with his PTSD. He was not to return to the boat until cleared.</p><p>The other two ribbed him all the way home. They were getting ready for bed, so their voices were harsh in the quiet ringing of Law's room. Law had decided to take the doctor's word for it and had taken his first dose. Luffy had hid all his snacks from Law because he'd heard the stories of people sleep eating. Kid promised Law he'd hide his guns. Though both of them joked about it, Law could tell both of them were uneasy.</p><p>He wiped his face with both hands. He could quite easily see the shadow in the waters clinging to him – holding him. It felt like a nightmare. He resolved to get over it. Settling back against his bed, he stared up at his ceiling.</p><p>Maybe he <em>was</em> smoking too much weed.</p><p>He closed his eyes to sleep and opened them when he realized it was much too quiet. The others hadn't settled that quickly, did they?</p><p>The house was dark and thick with uneasy silence – much like how it was the other day. The only thing missing was the music – he expected to hear it, his ears open for the sound. He felt weightless and dizzy, his eyes heavy and his mind mush – like he was supposed to be sleeping but woke up in that half paralyzed state where everything buzzed and aliens surrounded him.</p><p><em>Sleep paralysis</em>, he thought vaguely, understanding the situation. <em>My mind is awake but my body is still asleep</em>.</p><p>He sat up, mattress creaking as he did so. Something from the corner of his eye shifted, catching his attention. He turned his head in time to see someone pass by his door – but it took him a few moments to realize that it was closed. He attributed it to one of the shadows that fluttered over the wall, caused by his half opened curtains. The light outside was dim, caused by rustling trees and far off street lights. Law stretched his head from side to side and rose from his bed.</p><p>The moment he did, he heard the soft singing once more.</p><p><em>One of them has it for an alarm, or something</em>, he reasoned with a shake of his head. <em>Maybe one of those sleep-aid apps</em>.</p><p>But the hairs on his arms rose once again, and he looked down at them uncomfortably.</p><p>"'<em>If you got leavin' on your mind, tell me now, get it over</em>…'"</p><p>Law pushed up from his bed, feeling dizzy on his feet. He felt as if he were freezing from the inside out – he found a hooded sweater from his closet and pulled that on, as well as some mechanic's overalls that he used whenever he and Kid were working on the boat out on the docks. His breath was visible as he breathed, so he thought to go turn on the heater. He figured the area was coming to snow – it was late for this time of year. He left his room and headed down the hall, making his way to the kitchen.</p><p>He stood at the stove, eyes locked on the burners as he debated cooking something warm to combat the chill. Options flittered over his thoughts as he waited for his stomach to make a decision. He exhaled low as nothing came to mind but he realized that the song was still playing.</p><p>"'<em>If there's a new love in your heart, tell me now, get it over</em>…'"</p><p>It was louder from the kitchen, and he turned his head in time to see the chair pull away from the dining room table once more. His heart fluttered with fright because he was absolutely sure he'd seen it happen. His eyes widened as he stared, locked in place.</p><p>"'<em>Don't leave me here, in a world filled with dreams that might have been</em>…'"</p><p>The quiet ticking of the clock came from somewhere within the house as the song ended suddenly.</p><p>For a moment, it felt like the air became heavy. His lungs seemed to seize with the force of a hard clench. Law coughed over the stove and watched as sea water spilled over the grates. His shoulders heaved again, stomach pushing up to reject the sudden weight that registered there. He vomited water over the stove, bracing himself against the edge with both hands.</p><p>For a moment Law panted for breath, unable to understand what just happened. He reached up to turn on the light overhead and caught sight of the water he'd just expelled spilling over the range. <em>He didn't understand</em>.</p><p>His mouth tasted of the sea – salty, thick, cold. Every part of him was cold.</p><p>He wiped his mouth, almost shocked to feel moisture come away with the back of his hand. He turned away from the stove and headed for the sink to rinse his mouth out with a glass of tap water. As he found a cup from the nearby rack, he realized his hand was shaking. He filled a cup halfway then drew it to his mouth, taking a much needed drink. A clicking sound caught his attention, and he turned around to see that one of the burners at the stove had flicked on. He watched the knob turn to low flame, the orange glow gentle in the darkness. Law paused with the cup to his mouth, unsure of what was happening.</p><p>"Are you hungry?"</p><p>The voice came from out of nowhere, and it startled Law from the inside out. He swore his very insides jumped, with his stomach clawing for his throat. He looked around with a startled expression, feeling his skin pimple with goosebumps.</p><p>He could hear the soft hiss of the gas as flame danced around the steel of the grates, then watched as the knob turned again. The flame died and sputtered before disappearing and Law was left standing there in silence, unsure of what he'd just seen and heard. He did not believe in ghosts but he was positive this was how it started before everyone wound up screaming behind crosses and bottles of Holy Water. He almost dropped his cup as it seemed to pull from his hand, and he ended up spilling it over the floor. Water splashed over the ugly tile, and he stood stock still because nothing seemed to make sense.</p><p>He knew he had to clean it up – someone was going to trip over that and break something. He set his cup aside and snatched the dish towel nearby, crouching over the puddle. He put the towel over it to allow the cloth to absorb the mess but something happened – a hand stretched up from the puddle and caught onto his hand with a cold, wet grip.</p><p>It was so unexpected and so real that Law yanked back and slammed against the pantry doors to escape. That hand stretched out and became an arm, bending to brace against the floor. Law's mouth fell open and his eyes were wide as the full figure pulling itself from the puddle fleshed into that of a drowned human being.</p><p>He'd seen those before.</p><p>Bloated, misshapen bodies that rotted away under sea, pulled to the surface in pieces.</p><p>It belched sea water onto the floor, heaving as Law had done earlier.</p><p>It was so vivid and noisy that Law gave a startled shout of fear, watching as empty eyes turned his way. Rotted lips pulled back to reveal beautifully straight, even teeth.</p><p>"<em>Don't leave me here</em>," it said, words thick with water.</p><p>Law screamed again, flying to his feet. The lights turned on as Kid braced himself against the wall, Luffy sliding out from behind him. In the clatter of sound, Law whipping around to look at the creature, both men could see that the kitchen was in chaos: the stove burners were on full flame, the kitchen sink was running, the cabinet doors were open.</p><p>As Law righted himself, bracing himself against them, he saw this too. That frantic screaming piled away to confused noises as Kid hurried over to the stove to turn off the burners and Luffy checked the cabinets to make sure Law hadn't found his snacks.</p><p>Once the area was safe, Kid whipped around to look at Law. "<em>What is wrong with you</em>?" he bellowed, hands gesturing wildly.</p><p>Law caught his breath. His heart was thundering hard against his chest. His throat was thick and salty with the taste of sea water – the image of the bloated creature was stark in his mind, and he looked to the floor where it had been. All that remained was a puddle of water, his cup dropped nearby. He looked to Kid, focusing on him as Luffy found some animal crackers, shutting only that cabinet door.</p><p>"I…<em>I don't know</em>," Law said helplessly. "I…there was something on the floor, it was - ! A dead body, it was a dead body, it looked like - !"</p><p>Kid hit his own head. "Are you tripping out? You took those pills, right? You took those pills, came in here for a damned snack, and now you're tripping balls because those pills do some fucked up things. There isn't a dead body in here, Trafalgar! It's just your dumb ass mind tripping out!"</p><p>Law stuttered because he was positive he'd seen what he had, but seeing the disarray of the kitchen when the others appeared made him feel like Kid was right. There was no other explanation for what happened, no reason to think that this was nothing other than a combination of PTSD and Ambien.</p><p>He exhaled shakily, rubbing his arms. Kid then looked at him skeptically. "What are you wearing?"</p><p>Luffy snorted, cramming animal crackers into his mouth. "I wanted to ask that first, but I think I was missing the bigger picture."</p><p>After taking in their skeptical expressions, Law looked down at himself. He was wearing an old suit – a black dinner jacket, an orange shirt with tie, slacks and leather shoes. He gaped at himself, unsure if he even owned these items. He was absolutely positive he was wearing his mechanic's overalls over his jeans and t-shirt. He looked at the others with bewilderment, hands out with question.</p><p>Kid and Luffy ended up laughing at him. Law braced himself against the wall near the light switch, utterly bewildered. He looked to Luffy. "Is this place haunted?"</p><p>"Oh, it's <em>haunted</em> now," Kid muttered with a roll of his eyes, pushing away to rub his arms. "It's cold in here. Who's going to start the damn stove?"</p><p>Luffy furrowed his brow with concentration. "I don't think so. Gramps never said anything about that sort of thing. It's just an old house. If it were haunted, man, I'd be all over that right now."</p><p>Law looked troubled as he stared down at his clothing. Impulse had him ripping off the too small jacket, and when it settled against the floor with a noisy clank, both of them looked at the garment with curiosity. Law retrieved it with a grunt caused by the tight fit of his pants.</p><p>"That sounded like a fatty grunt to me!" Kid called from the living room, where he was tinkering from the wood stove.</p><p>"You're not fat," Luffy assured Law, just in case he needed to hear it. With an impatient expression at both of them, Law searched the jacket's pockets for the source of the clank and found a lighter in the inside pocket. He examined the gold case – flicking it open to see a simple engraving of a mermaid on the inside of the lid. He flicked it closed with a puzzled look then examined the jacket.</p><p>"I've never seen this thing before," he said with a puzzled tone.</p><p>"You're obviously wearing it," Kid muttered, shoving wood into the stove, crumbling newspaper to toss in right after it.</p><p>"But I've…" Law trailed off.</p><p>He could see deft fingers buttoning the jacket up. There was the heavy smell of cigarette smoke in the air – a sharp contrast to the sea. There was a voice in the background but it sounded tinny and far off – the tune shaped into the song he'd heard playing earlier. There was something about the image that felt <em>wrong</em>.</p><p>"Law?" Luffy questioned, looking at the man with a tilt of his head. The older man had a stricken look to his face, eyes locked on something far off. Lifting his hand, Luffy waved it in front of him until Law blinked and focused on him.</p><p>He cleared his throat awkwardly, stuffing the lighter into the jacket. He then shook it before folding it over one arm. "Sorry. There was…something…I was trying to remember something and it…went away."</p><p>Kid lifted his head to say something in response when the chair at the dining table suddenly jerked away from the floor and tipped with sudden violence. Wood shattered, causing him to yelp and jump away from the stove as Luffy jumped onto Law, climbing him like a tree. Law tripped over his own feet, unable to see as Luffy yelled.</p><p>The entire house shuddered violently, wood cracking and protesting. The floor rumbled, and Kid flopped over the battered couch in front of the bay window as he tripped trying to get away. There was an angry sound of a man clenching his teeth, trying not to release a scream. But it broke and trembled over the cold air, Luffy squeezing Law tightly as he gave a frightful sound.</p><p>The sound evaporated as quickly as it was released and all three of them were frozen in place.</p><p>"<em>Okay</em>," Luffy admitted on a small whisper. "Our place is haunted."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>TWO</strong> <strong>::</strong></p><p>Luffy leaned across the couch's back to peer out the bay window, spotting Law huddled on the front porch – smoking one of his "special" cigarettes. He crammed some chips into his mouth with a skeptical look. "You ask me, this is why he started seeing stuff."</p><p>"I would agree with you, kid, but we heard what we heard," Kid insisted, phone in hand as he paced the length of the living room. The pair of them had barricaded the kitchen off with the dining room table and the remaining chairs – there was still water on the floor and most of the cabinet doors remained opened. With the morning making itself known outside, the glow of the sun was welcome in the small, cold house.</p><p>Luffy chewed when he heard the ringing on the phone, Kid clearing his throat a few times. He resettled on the couch, crunching noisily as he watched the taller man pace. Once he heard his grandfather's booming greeting from the phone, Kid pulling it from his ear briefly with a wince, Luffy had to grin. He wanted to see how this was going to play out.</p><p>"Old man," Kid said as a demand, "is your house haunted and shit?"</p><p>"<em>Haunted</em>?" Garp repeated with outrage, causing Luffy to twitch. "Boy, what are you going on about, saying <em>my house</em>is haunted? What is the matter with you? Are you growing illegally?"</p><p>"NO! No, nothing like that, but <em>is it haunted</em>?" Kid insisted, slapping hand upon hand with each word.</p><p>"<em>NO it's not haunted</em>!"</p><p>"There are ghosts an' shit all over this house!" Kid exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "There are <em>ghosts here haunting</em> us, so you better come up with a good explanation and a priest!"</p><p>Garp's roaring laughter told Luffy that everything was going to be okay. It did not sound like Garp was in any condition to die, soon. He finished his chips and crumbled the bag into a ball to throw it in the direction of the trash can.</p><p>"<em>Hello</em>?" Kid hung up the phone with a growl, tossing it onto the nearby chair. "He hung up on me!"</p><p>"Well, it's not haunted," Luffy assured him. "I told you this."</p><p>"Then what was that sound? What is all of this? Why is that guy tripping out on us?" With that Kid ripped the front door open, startling Law into a coughing fit. "So this shit started that one night? With you asking us about country music?"</p><p>"Yeah," Law answered after regaining the breath to do so. Luffy shivered at the rush of cold air that entered with the opened door. "That's when it started."</p><p>Kid slammed the door shut, shivering and rubbing his arms before standing in front of the wood stove – it hadn't yet been started, so he searched for the matches. "Country music," he grumbled, finding the box nestled underneath some newspapers. "So, is this a cowboy ghost? Or an old man ghost? I think your grandpappy's lying, Luffy."</p><p>"<em>Grandpappy</em>!" Luffy laughed in delight as Kid reddened, standing away from the stove.</p><p>"That's how we say it where I'm from!"</p><p>"Garp never said anything about his house being haunted, before," Luffy said, leaning against the armrest. "And he's lived here all his life!"</p><p>"I doubt that guy would say anything. It took him nearly dying at the restaurant he goes to all the time to even admit he had cancer!"</p><p>Luffy sighed, having to nod to agree with him. Law re-entered the house, shivering.</p><p>After starting the wood stove, Kid stared at the building flames with aggression. He looked at the clock on the nearby end table, against the couch. It was an old, ugly thing – a round face cradled between two mermaids. He looked at it with disgust.</p><p>"What'd he say?" Law asked him, standing near the stove and holding his hands over it for warmth.</p><p>"He said it's not haunted."</p><p>"That's bullshit."</p><p>"That's what I said!"</p><p>"He'd never admit to things like that."</p><p>"That's <em>exactly</em> what I said!"</p><p>Thinking about it, Law scrunched his face with concentration as Luffy eyed them both with a dubious expression. He could tell the pair of them were agitated – despite being taller and older, they were definitely a pair of babies. He couldn't wait to tell his friends about this, but he was sure they were still sleeping. Time zones were tricky.</p><p>His stomach gurgled noisily. "Let's go eat somewhere."</p><p>Before anyone could answer, one of the chairs braced against the kitchen counter moved noisily. The water at the sink suddenly began to shoot down the drain, causing the three of them to jerk in reaction.</p><p>Five minutes later, Kid was pulling up to the old restaurant in the middle of the fishing town. The parking lot was full of old vehicles and the sign had lost have the power to its individual letters. But they were inside quickly, grateful for the warmth and the smells of breakfast in the air. They took a booth towards the back. All around them were fishermen that were just as down on their luck as they. Newspapers fluttered noisily, dishes clinked and coffee steamed. The workers in the back were fast and efficient, and Luffy was excited to eat as the other two sunk low in their seats, looking worn.</p><p>One of the waiters approached them, Kid eying him with distaste. He didn't know why the place didn't hire new, younger workers. Everyone seemed ancient in this town, and he was disappointed by the lack of single, available ladies.</p><p>"You boys look like everyone else here," the old man muttered, pad and pencil in hand. "You got cash to pay?"</p><p>Law gestured that he had this, and the three of them ordered. Another man came by with a hot pot of coffee. Once Kid and Law set out their mugs, Luffy wiggled around in his seat to pull his heavy red jacket off.</p><p>"You guys get any sleep?" the other man asked as the first left, limping wearily to another table. "It must be stressful coming back empty handed all the time. Probably best to find another contract."</p><p>"Our house is haunted," Luffy stated casually, leaning against the table. "Can I get some apple juice?"</p><p>"<em>Haunted</em>?" the old man repeated with a bark of laughter. "Haven't heard that one in a while."</p><p>"Hey, Garp came here a lot, didn't he?" Kid questioned, dumping multiple packets of sugar into his coffee. "Did he say anything about his house being infected with ghosts?"</p><p>The man laughed again. "Like Garp would say anything like that!"</p><p>"We're being serious!"</p><p>"I am, too. There's no such thing as ghosts around here," the old man said with a chortle, shaking his head. Then, after some reflection and only on a low whisper, he continued with, "Only mermaids."</p><p>The three of them stared up at him with skepticism. The old man shrugged and walked away, shaking his head once more.</p><p>"<em>Mermaids</em>," Kid scoffed, dumping creamer into his coffee while Law looking at his cup with consideration.</p><p>He recalled the moment in the ocean, feeling the ghostly weight of fingers around his legs and the feel of a person on his back. He hadn't told them what he'd seen, sure it was only part of his "PTSD". Maybe the event of being tossed into the cold, black waters was that traumatic for him and he'd only imagined these things.</p><p>Luffy's eyes widened. "It could say a lot about there not being any fish out here."</p><p>"Mermaids don't eat their friends! Fish are friends, not food," Kid repeated, mimicking the accent of Bruce the shark.</p><p>"But what if they're chasing them away so they won't be caught?"</p><p>"Luffy, I'm not having this conversation with you."</p><p>Law thought of the mermaid engraved within the lighter, and that of the clock on the end table. When he glanced around, he saw that there were paintings of mermaids on the walls of the restaurant, with smiling faces engraved around the windows. There was even one cradling an electronic clock just above the kitchen window, fish and kelp twirling around her. He snorted.</p><p>"I wonder if they poop like fish or humans," Luffy muttered thoughtfully, staring at the scarred table.</p><p>Kid eyed him with disdain, sipping at his coffee. "<em>Duh</em>," he snapped. "Fish because their lower half is a <em>fish</em>."</p><p>"But if their tummies are like ours, then – "</p><p>"I am not having this argument with you on how mermaids <em>poop</em>!"</p><p>"This is a serious matter, Kid! If we see their poop in the ocean, then maybe that explains the lack of fish!"</p><p>"We're not going to see their poop because their poop breaks up and gets carried away by water! Their digestive systems are designed to fit what they eat, so if they are fucking vegetarians, they're going to poop mostly kelp and seaweed, and that breaks apart and turns into - ! Oh my god, I'm NOT doing this!"</p><p>Law sipped at his coffee, wincing at the sting. He set his cup aside with a sigh. "Besides," he said, dully entering the conversation, "what I saw wasn't a mermaid. It was a body."</p><p>"Oh, you've seen those before, right?" Kid questioned, looking at him. "Being a doctor an' all?"</p><p>"It was a drowned person. Unrecognizable. A ghost. Not a mermaid."</p><p>"Did you see its legs?"</p><p>Law had to admit that he didn't, but it didn't make sense that there was a <em>mermaid ghost</em> in their old house. He shook his head. Kid snapped his fingers to look at Luffy. "It's a ghost, not a mermaid."</p><p>"A ghost <em>of </em>a mermaid!" Luffy whispered with awe.</p><p>"<em>It wasn't a mermaid</em>!"</p><p>"You boys seen one, too?" the first waiter asked, returning to the table with a coffee pot. "Legend has it, it's bad luck. They're capable of bringing a sailor down to the ocean floor."</p><p>Kid scoffed, gesturing around himself as Law once again saw that moment where he was being dragged to the softly tussled sand deep below the surface. Felt the weight of a person on his back – heard the soft, desperate whisper.</p><p>"There are mermaids all over the place," Kid insisted, Luffy looking around himself with a start. "So it's not like they're scary beasts or anything. <em>Mermaids</em>…I can't believe I came out here for this."</p><p>The old man scoffed, refilling his cup. "And you say your house is <em>haunted</em>, so who is the goofy one here?"</p><p>Kid frowned hard.</p><p>"Excuse me, mister," Luffy said, waving to catch the waiter's attention, "did my gramps see one? That's why he's got cancer, right?"</p><p>Law and Kid looked pained while the waiter looked at Luffy with consideration. Bracing himself against their table, the old man asked, "Garp ever talk of the sea, kid?"</p><p>"Yeah, all the time!"</p><p>"He ever say anything why some people leave flowers down at the pier?"</p><p>"…No?"</p><p>The old man nodded. "Maybe you should go take a peek over there. All of you. Maybe it'll answer some of your questions. Your food will be right out."</p><p>With that he left them, the trio looking after him with puzzled expressions.</p><p>: :</p><p>"We're doing this," Kid mumbled to himself as they walked the distance to the pier. Cold wind whipped through the area, bringing loose trash and broken branches with it. Something rattled in the distance while people wearing thick winter gear hurried about. A dog barked somewhere close by, the smell of the sea and something smoking from a house nearby causing Luffy to inhale with appreciation. "We're going down to the pier. Like some curious knobs, chasing after some sailor tales."</p><p>"Garp never said anything like this, so I think we should just do it," Luffy said with a shrug. "He don't talk about anything soft, but that guy knows him better than I do. Might not hurt."</p><p>"Yeah, so, is there a shrine dedicated to mermaids, or an explanation of our ghost?" Kid asked with a heavy sigh, Law shivering violently as he hugged himself. "Because I never heard a thing about this until today."</p><p>"Me either! But I'm curious, now!"</p><p>"It doesn't look like you guys are going to hit the water, anyway," Law said, looking over the tumultuous sea. Most of the ships were already anchored in the nearby marina, with some desperate fishermen posted up near the sea shore, braving the elements to toss lines out into the water. He pulled his beanie down low, nearly covering his eyes. Kid yanked up his hood, tying it in place.</p><p>The pier was located away from the marina – an old wood and metal wharf braced against the waters that often invited tourists and locals to walk the length of it out onto the water. It wasn't anything special – it wasn't very interesting. With the way the waves slammed against it, it didn't look like something Law wanted to try. He felt nauseous at the thought of being thrown into the water once again, skin rippling with unease.</p><p>Once they reached it, the trio looked out at it skeptically. Wood creaked noisily as water slammed against the legs, plastic bags caught against the build-up of moss. Luffy took a step onto it and continued forward, walking easily while the other two watched skeptically from the shore.</p><p>Kid looked around himself with a dubious expression, searching for any shrines or monuments. Law noticed Luffy looking into the waters, then crouch to where there was a building of plastic against one leg. He pulled up what looked like flowers, waving them excitedly at the pair.</p><p>"<em>Look</em>!" he called, Law looking unsettled as Kid stared at Luffy with a frown. "Flowers!"</p><p>"He is on the spectrum, isn't he?" Kid asked Law low.</p><p>"So why are there flowers in the water?" Law asked, ignoring the question. "Is this some sort of memorial?"</p><p>"People <em>die</em> out here, it's probably for a guy. Nothing special," Kid snorted, hands in his pockets. Luffy tossed the flowers back into the water, humming to himself as he continued to venture out. "If you fall in, I ain't going in after you!"</p><p>"I can swim, Kid, <em>gosh</em>!"</p><p>Law looked around them, hoping to catch sight of someone in the process of throwing flowers into the water. While he was sure this day was only a special day of mourning for someone that had lost a loved one to the sea, he did have some vague interest in the other matter. He wanted to tell the others that he was starting to believe in the concept based on what he'd seen, but…logically, things did not make sense. How could he not remember climbing back onto the boat alongside the others?</p><p>He caught sight of a single woman standing at the parking lot just above them. Her expression was heavy as she gazed out into the water, her hands stuffed deep into her jacket. What caught his eye was that she seemed out of place – a visitor to the area, based on her clothing. There was a car with out of state license plates behind her. She was an older woman, her hair white and pulled into a ponytail behind her. Her expression was heavy as she watched the sea.</p><p>Law left Kid as he continued shouting out at Luffy. It took him a few minutes to actually reach the woman, who noticed him with discomfort.</p><p>"I'm not even going to beat around the bush," Law warned her as he approached her, causing her some distress, "but we've got no idea why there's flowers on the pier. Do you know what that's about?"</p><p>She looked at him skeptically, thin lips pulled into a grim line. She looked him over, then decided he wasn't a threat. She was beautiful once – her eyes were brown and big, forehead covered with a thinning layer of white hair. But her cheeks were spotted with age, lines drastic around her mouth and eyes. She had the look of someone that was mean and quick to cut. "You're out here on contract? So you don't know these waters well?"</p><p>"Correct."</p><p>"How's the fishing? From the looks of things, it hasn't been very well."</p><p>"It's been terrible. None of us pull in any more than a third."</p><p>The older woman hesitated to say anything, returning her attention to the sea. She then swallowed, hands bunching into fists in her jacket pocket. She noticed the two men down below, one on the rocking pier and the other shouting at him from the shore. But distance and cold wind made it difficult to hear anything. She looked to the man standing nearby, and noticed his expression. It took her a few moments to gather some courage.</p><p>"Stress?" she asked.</p><p>Law looked at her, then realized she was examining his facial features. "Pretty much. I have been having some difficulty sleeping."</p><p>"Did you fall in?"</p><p>Law looked at her with a start, which gave her an answer. Her expression turned grim. "You're unlucky."</p><p>"It was an accident. All of us were tossed in. We'd misjudged the waters."</p><p>"It wasn't the water."</p><p>Law rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Luffy hit the wood as the pier shifted. Once the teen managed to climb back to his feet, he turned and headed back towards shore.</p><p>"I suppose it was the mermaids," he said sarcastically.</p><p>The woman nodded to confirm this. "This part of the sea hates men."</p><p>Law tried not to show his expression, but it emerged as a snort.</p><p>"So much that it pulls them in to drown them."</p><p>"Are you high? Where do you get your supply?"</p><p>The woman didn't take offense to his skepticism. She returned her expression to the sea, revealing her hands as she folded them in front of her. "I come here once a year to pay my respects but…I suspect this will be my last. You know why I come here? To apologize. I won't ever be forgiven, I know that, but…even if you don't believe me, believe me when I say that every time you step out into those waters, you are asking to die."</p><p>"There hasn't been any mention of people dying here in droves – "</p><p>"Men don't always die because of the sea," the woman interrupted him. "They die for other reasons."</p><p>Law thought of Garp, his face showing his displeasure. "Cancer."</p><p>"Every time I come out here," the woman said, walking to the worn wood railing that overlooked the rocky sand below, "I noticed that I've never seen the same person twice. And I've been coming here for…many years. Most are young men on contract, such as yourself. The rest are old men who hide behind mermaid knickknacks, atoning for a crime they will never be forgiven for."</p><p>Law furrowed his brow. As much as he wanted to turn around and leave, he realized something was rooting him in place. He had noticed that most of the occupants of the town were young men in rented places, with small families that were tired of moving all the time.</p><p>"They found one, you know," she said slowly. "A mermaid. Pulled it from the sea. Gave it a home. Gave it a <em>name</em>. Then gave it back to the sea in pieces."</p><p>"This legend was never mentioned."</p><p>"Old men have lived long enough to build lies that fit the time." The woman looked at him. "And the ghost that remains is still angry. There are no fish here because of it."</p><p>Law sighed, looking down at his worn boots. "So is it a mermaid or a ghost?"</p><p>"Which did you see?"</p><p>Law didn't want to answer that question to a total stranger.</p><p>She smirked.</p><p>"This thing that happened – it happened before we were tossed in," Law then attempted to explain. He ended up having to say reluctantly, "Our house is haunted."</p><p>"Which house is it?"</p><p>When Law pointed it out, the woman paled significantly before looking at him with a start. She then looked to Kid and Luffy, seeing them making their way towards the trail away from them. Both of them were arguing with each other, forgetting Law wasn't there with him. He noticed this as well, frowning at them for their selfishness. The woman gripped the railing with white knuckled hands.</p><p>"Is that Garp's grandchild?" she asked softly.</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"Did you ask him yourself?"</p><p>"He said the house is <em>not</em> haunted."</p><p>"You speak of him in present tense – he's still alive?"</p><p>"He has cancer."</p><p>"Did Garp ever tell any of you how many hours he spent looking for those pieces?"</p><p>Law looked at her skeptically. He couldn't decide if she were serious, but with the way she held herself, it was important to tell himself that she wasn't just expressing a tall tale. She didn't look like a liar.</p><p>"Garp was young back then. He did his best. But one man against a mob…one isn't enough." She pushed away from the railing, looking at him with surprisingly watery eyes. "He stayed here long enough to spite everybody, right?"</p><p>Law figured she knew the answer to that. She wiped her eyes and turned away from him, moving to her car. She opened the passenger side door and pulled out the bouquet on the front seat. Law could see that they were fake flowers – purple Hyacinth surrounded by white poppies. With some hesitation, she gave them to him.</p><p>"You take them," she said as he took the bouquet. They were held together with a white ribbon. "Maybe it'll help."</p><p>She shut the door and rounded the car, Law looking after her with bewilderment. Without another word, she climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. A few moments later she was pulling away, driving out of the parking lot without a glance back in her rearview mirror. Law looked at the flowers with doubt. But despite himself, he was intrigued with the mystery around it. If he couldn't board a boat without a doctor's permission, maybe he'd spend some of his free time investigating some old gossip.</p><p>He headed down to the pier despite some internal arguing. It was unsettling how water beat at the edges of the landing, coloring the planks. He noticed that the plastic settled against the pier's supports were bouquets of flowers that were more in season for this time of the year. All grocery store mixtures arranged together for a holiday. Figuring that this bouquet would only return to the shore, Law took a step onto the stairs. The water felt as violent as it looked – slamming against the pier with alarming strength, causing it to shake and rattle. It felt near similar to being on an anchored boat. He could feel an odd sort of panic building up in his gut, mind starting to race. He walked slowly along the soaked planks, wishing there was a railing of some kind to steady himself with.</p><p>He ended up falling forward when he was hit hard from behind. He barely had time to brace himself before he slammed into the wooden planks.</p><p>"Ha! Ha! You're such an old man!" Luffy laughed from his back, hopping up and snatching up the bouquet to examine it. "Where'd you get this?"</p><p>"<em>You asshole</em>! I'll drown you!" Law shouted impatiently at him, picking himself up. The teen ran across the length of the pier, every step careful against the alarming movement. For some reason nausea returned in full force, and Law felt his stomach heave. He had to brace his hands against his knees, fighting off the wave of vertigo.</p><p>"If you puke, you're walking home by yourself," Kid stated from shore. "Because I'm not walking home with a guy that pukes all the time."</p><p>"Law! You got the flu?" Luffy asked from down the pier, looking back at him with concern.</p><p>"He's probably pregnant!" Kid laughed. Law vowed to pay him back for this comment.</p><p>But before he could even think of the first thing to make Kid suffer, the images of being underwater hit Law vividly. His lungs filled with fire upon the first inhale of water. His muscles went weak. Unsteadily, Law turned to head back to shore when the pier snapped violently, Luffy shouting out with panic. Kid even reacted with a start, his pale face showing an alarmed expression.</p><p>Law caught the edges of the planks before he was tossed towards the waters. Every part of him did not want to touch it – he could see that even if he landed, he'd only be in ankle deep water. There were rocks and sand visible beneath the angry flutters, moss reaching towards the shore. But he could taste it in his mouth again. Bracing himself, he made to get up and race back to shore but the crackle of sound away from him alerted him to Luffy falling into the water.</p><p>Alarmed, Law pushed up to his feet, hearing Kid run up with a shout. Seeing the teen crash into the water, Law swore something grabbed Luffy. He saw pale white hands burst through the waves and curl around Luffy, yanking him underneath. Without thinking, Law jumped in after him. The punch of the cold surrounding him was enough to render his muscles into jelly. But Luffy's bright red coat caught his attention, and he swam towards it, reaching for the material. The teen looked frozen, like shock had captured his ability to think and react. The bouquet left his hands.</p><p>The water was dark, rippled with sand particles and murky filth but Law could see Luffy distinctively. His fingers curled into the material of his jacket and he yanked the teen towards the surface. He felt a violent movement that caused his arm to nearly rip out of his socket and looked back to see if it were Kid that had done so.</p><p>The shadow of a figure held onto Luffy tightly, pushing away from Law. Luffy looked like he was yelling, arms flailing wildly underwater as he sought to face the surface. Law could see the dark shape of a man holding onto Luffy by his jacket – the shape was outlined by the murkiness, so it seemed comparable to a man in an all-black bodysuit swimming behind Luffy.</p><p>Somehow, Law had enough strength to push out after the teen, grabbing his jacket. The violent force yanked Luffy back, but Law managed to grab the kid by his hoodie. With forceful jerks, he managed to get Luffy out of the jacket, watching the material sweep away suddenly from him. In a panic, Law kicked up to the surface.</p><p>Both of them broke through the waves with hard inhales. Kid helped them both climb back onto the pier, the lopsided landing dangerously drifted in the waves, keeping them off balance.</p><p>Luffy grabbed onto Law's jacket as Law coughed, weary from the impromptu swim. "Someone grabbed me!" he panted. "<em>Someone grabbed me</em>!"</p><p>"You were fucking <em>drowning</em>, that's what was happening," Kid snapped at them, grabbed them both by the collars of their sweaters and bodily hauling them towards shore as they protested noisily. Once they were tossed into the dirt, Kid wiped his hands with a huff. The activity had drawn attention from others in the area, all of whom were hurrying over to express concern.</p><p>Luffy pushed himself up and then sat facing the water with a panicked expression. Law continued to lay there in the dirt, clutching it, certain of what he'd seen. With all these things being said, it was hard to deny the shape he'd seen. He'd seen the hands, he'd seen the body, and he was certain that <em>whatever</em> it was, it had intended on pulling Luffy into the depths to drown.</p><p>: :</p><p><em>It was a weird day</em>, Kid admitted once they were home. The other two were rattled in such a way that it was hard to deny his own nerves feeding off theirs. Luffy continued to insist that someone had grabbed him – Law looked like he'd seen a ghost. Kid was certain both of them were just…overly stressed. But Kid's own nerves were prickled because he'd seen what had happened hours earlier in their own house and now that they were back, he could feel that strange uneasiness from earlier still lingering in the air. He fed the wood stove some fuel, told himself to go cut more just to work this feeling out of his system.</p><p>So he left the house to make a pile. When he returned, stacking the wood near the stove and setting the axe near the front door, he saw that Luffy was on the phone and Law was in his room.</p><p>Kid admitted he wasn't close to either of them – he only knew them because they were on similar assignment here to fish for commercial reasons. They would stay together for a season then separate into different directions after. He knew that Luffy's grandpa lived here all his life and Law was a pothead working off debts accumulated from his past. Kid knew that both Law and Luffy were new to the fishing season, still earning their sea legs; both of them city folk looking for a change of pace.</p><p>So he knew that neither of them were prone to old sailor stories about mermaids and ghosts – they scoffed at others' superstitions and reasonably applied logic to sea adventures. But to see them both rattled by <em>this</em>…this made Kid wonder.</p><p>Law clearly wasn't the same after being tossed off the boat; Luffy insisted he was grabbed by a person under water. It had to be a strange coincidence because the old man at the diner had scared them. Kid had to assume it was Law's bad habit and introduction of Ambien that made his imagination spin, but for Luffy to pursue that aspect for himself…</p><p>Kid paused at Law's open bedroom door, seeing that he was writing something down in his notebook. "So…you heard the ghost before the boat thing, right?"</p><p>Law considered this, then nodded gravely.</p><p>"And Luffy – this thing underwater was <em>after</em> the old man telling us the mermaid thing."</p><p>"Are you working on something, Eustess?"</p><p>Kid sneered at him for using his first name. "Both of you are big babies."</p><p>Law rolled his eyes and Kid continued onto his room. He didn't want to show it, but he couldn't apply scare tactics to Law because this thing with the ghost started before the boat. And Luffy was incapable of lying but the kid was rattled to the bone after what happened at the pier.</p><p>Kid straightened up from his dresser, then clomped to Law's room. "<em>Wait</em>. What were you doing with the bouquet in the first place?"</p><p>Law scratched at his messy, beanie flattened hair. "Wow, you are a conundrum of fast thinking."</p><p>"<em>Enough</em>. How did you get it?"</p><p>"There was an old lady in the parking lot I was talking to. She…said a lot of things. She told me I'd probably have some luck if I tossed it in." Law shrugged a lanky shoulder. Kid stared at him skeptically.</p><p>"What kinds of things?"</p><p>"To sum things up, a bunch of old men killed a mermaid and to get revenge, it is killing all the men around here."</p><p>Kid absorbed this comment, then slumped against the doorframe. "You're killing me, man. Absolutely <em>killing</em> me. I think we all need to calm down and stop thinking there's a ghostly mermaid around here."</p><p>"I…would've agreed to this with you, but…I've got my own shit to sort out on the matter."</p><p>Kid looked at him dubiously, then straightened away from the doorframe, shaking his head.</p><p>"A killer ghost mermaid is on the warpath," he muttered on his way to his room. "For fuck's sake…"</p><p>Kid decided he was done with the situation. He was going to focus on the haunted house matters and try to adjust to the fact that they were commercial fishermen on the losing end of a deal. If they weren't able to fulfill a contract, they were going to be deep in debt with a company that would demand their heads in return. He thought that this was an important matter to focus on.</p><p>He headed to the bathroom with a change of clothes and locked the door behind him. The combination tub/shower was angled away from the doorway, allowing for some tub privacy; the remaining stretch of available space held a sink, toilet and a cabinet for basic toiletries. It was too narrow of an area to shift around comfortably upon entering.</p><p>Turning on the shower, he let it warm up before entering. It was to his relief that the hot water felt great against his cold skin. He dumped shampoo into his hand, facing the spray. Lathering his red hair, Kid muttered to himself about how the showerhead wasn't high enough for a man of his height – the spray tended to attack his chest and not his head, and since Garp had long ago renovated the shower in the room Luffy used, this guest shower was just a crime against men of Kid's height.</p><p>As he was scrubbing his scalp, he had the weird feeling he wasn't alone in the bathroom. He opened his eyes to see if Law had invaded his space to use the toilet while Kid was in the shower, but soap and water forced his eyes shut. He screamed out with aggravation.</p><p>The door pounded with Luffy's frantic knocking. "KID! Are you being murdered?"</p><p>"NO! I got shampoo in my eyes!" Kid screamed back. "Don't you dare come in!"</p><p>He heard Luffy scoffing against the wood, "We're all men here, Kid. We all got dicks. So it isn't like I haven't seen a dick, before."</p><p>"Luffy, I swear on six pounds, five ounce baby Jesus' life that I will <em>ruin</em> you if you try to come in here!" Kid threatened, scrubbing frantically. Once he could see, he turned to look behind him for the demon he could <em>feel</em> in the shower with him. He saw that he was alone, rolling his eyes as Luffy pounded at the door.</p><p>"If you're being murdered, just yell, okay? We're all living on edge around here!"</p><p>"I'm not being murdered!" Kid said in exasperation, squeezing out water from his hair. "<em>For fuck's sake</em>…"</p><p>He turned to face the spray, shaking his head as he reached for the soap. "This fucking showerhead is too fucking short – it's not hitting the right places!"</p><p>He soaped up with a wince, sure he'd locked the door. He happened to glance over the shower curtain rod to the door just to make sure, steam building just below the ceiling. As he did so, something caught the corner of his eye – he was sure someone was standing in the shower with him. He twisted his head to look, slipping just enough to brace himself against the wall with a loud crash of sound. His heart rate raced because it had been a <em>sure</em> moment when he'd seen the shape of a man standing there.</p><p>Once he caught his breath, he stared at the empty length of the tub, clutching his soap clumsily. He pulled aside the curtain to look out, seeing nothing but the toilet, sink and the narrow shelf of towels just above the toilet. The cabinet door was wide open – he was positive he'd shut it, earlier. He decided it was his mistake anyway and adjusted the curtain back into place, eyes wide.</p><p>"I'm losing my mind," he whispered incredulously, closing his eyes to clean his face. But he couldn't help but <em>feel</em> he wasn't alone – his skin rippled with goosebumps so violent that he shivered. The stall creaked with weight that wasn't his. He opened his eyes to look behind him, soap stinging instantly. But he <em>saw</em> it – there <em>was</em> someone standing there in the stall with him. Its skin was pale and bloated, purpled with violent splotches and heavy, sagging away from an off-white skeleton; almost as if it were seconds from falling right off of bone. Kid couldn't even tell if it were wearing clothing because he was only peering through the slits of his eyelid – but rotten, cracked lips pulled back to bare straight white teeth.</p><p>Kid screamed, yanking himself out of the shower stall, crashing against the curtain and shower rod. He hit the cabinet and shelf on the way down, sending things clattering to the floor around him. His wet body slipped and slid against the cabinet, and he braced his shoulder against it, still shouting aloud in terror. Soap stung his eyes and fell into his mouth, causing him to sputter. He wiped his face frantically, Luffy pounding on the door once again.</p><p>The person was in the tub. Standing there with empty sockets, turning to face him. Skin hung from scarred bone as a faint hissing sound began to build in the steamy air. It was wearing all black, Kid vaguely noticed. He inhaled deeply to scream again, pushing himself up in a panic to flee away from it. The thing faced him as cracked lips pulled down into what seemed like a furious expression. Kid was on his feet and against the door, rattling it in his desperation to get out. The thing stepped out from the shower stall, grabbing hold of the wall to steady itself. There was something wrong with its legs, Kid noticed. Those skinny limbs wavered and buckled like they hadn't any support left in them.</p><p>"<em>Give it back to me</em>," it stated in a voice so clear that Kid could swear it was the voice of a living person. He managed to get the door open and he slammed past Law and Luffy at the door, both of whom were moments from busting it down with what looked like a piece of wood from the stack near the wood stove. Both of them looked after the fleeing man, then looked into the bathroom, observing the mess left behind. The shower kept running.</p><p>Law lowered the wedge of wood as Luffy looked after the puddles left behind by Kid's movement.</p><p>"Go get him," Law advised Luffy once they realized Kid had ran outside of the house. "He's going to give the neighbors a bad idea about us."</p><p>"Oh, <em>damn</em>," Luffy muttered, nearly slipping in the puddles left behind as he called after Kid.</p><p>Law looked back into the bathroom, unsure of the hasty action. Steam poured out from the open doorway, feeling good against his skin. There was something in the small room that unsettled him, something that felt familiar. For some reason, the entire scene felt like something he'd seen, before. As the shower continued to run, he heard the soft, muffled sounds of a man sobbing. It broke his heart, made his eyes water in such a way that he felt responsible.</p><p>Over the lip of the tub, one long, pale arm stretched out, bracing against the tub wall. The hand that settled over the side bore long, curved fingers with a wisp of webbing between them. A mixture of sea-colored scales glistened along the length of the forearm, jutting outward with a fish-fin shape that drooped like kelp pulled from the water. Those fingers left behind streaks of blood that dripped slowly to the floor. The tub shifted with weight that squeaked against the wet surface, water splashing to the floor. Almost instantly, the tub, stall and the floor bloomed with accusing colors that burst into sight. The bathroom lost its modern conveniences, forced back in time to when it was new and rarely used. The sound of the woman's voice started up once more, distant and melancholic. There were multiple salt containers around the bathroom floor, empty and upset. But the tub was full of blood, and the arm lost tension to settle bonelessly over the floor.</p><p>Law's lungs tightened up in such a way that he couldn't breathe, every part of him heavy and still.</p><p>He shut the door, letting the shower run.</p><p>"I’ve been waiting for you," he heard whispered just behind him, skin rippling with reaction. He whirled around to see the person that had spoken to him, but the hallway gave him nothing.</p><p>For a few moments, his breath was tight. A part of him felt responsible. But another part of him denied any responsibility at all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>THREE:: </strong>
</p><p>Kid's old truck veered into the dirt lot of the old house Garp was currently staying for hospice care, located some time away from the fishing town. Luffy cringed at the sight of it while Law gave the run down porch and peeling paint a distrustful eye. All around the yard were abandoned vehicles, fallen sheds and a swing set that had seen better times; the winding dirt road leading up to it happened to leave the main highway some time back, so it gave them a sort of isolated feeling. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Kid shut off the engine, lip crinkling with distaste as the engine rattled to silence.</p><p>"He's dying here? What a dump," he muttered to himself while Luffy frowned at him. The bench seat was crowded with all of them crammed into it, and Kid huffed as he pushed his door open, Law following suit. The three of them tromped up the old steps of the wrap around porch. Luffy barged into the house with a loud hail, the other two walking in with a more tentative air. The inside was much different from the outside – modernized, minimalist, clean and symmetrical. Electronics caused the tv to boom noisily – there was a fireplace with a warm fire and food cooking in the kitchen. Every piece of furniture looked as if it were taken right off the store's showroom floor that day.</p><p>Kid's eyes glittered with awe while Law wondered why the deception.</p><p>Garp himself walked out from one of the massive rooms nearby – he looked nothing like a man slowly dying from cancer. Luffy spotted him, then hurried to escape before the older man reached out and snagged him by the collar. Kid gaped at him, wondering what part of the man was dying.</p><p>"What was this trash about my house being haunted?" Garp asked, shaking his grandson before looking to the others. He gave Kid a distrustful eye. "You look like the hysterical type. I suppose it was you on the phone."</p><p>"It was," Kid said cautiously, brow furrowed as Luffy struggled to get loose from Garp's steely grasp. He looked back at the older man. "You don't act or look like you're dying."</p><p>"I am," Garp coughed a couple of times, but it sounded phony. He made his way to the large sectional nearby. "I am being forced to eat medication and drink ice."</p><p>Law and Kid looked at each other with confusion as Garp sat, dropping Luffy to the floor like some discarded pet. The teen whined a bit while Garp changed the channel to a news station. "So what's this visit about?"</p><p>"The house is haunted," Luffy insisted, climbing to sit on the section while the other two stood awkwardly in the foyer. They kept looking at the carpet's pristine condition and their dirty, grungy boots. "We saw stuff happen and ghosts in the hall, and I <em>almost</em> drowned today! Something pulled me down! Then Kid - !"</p><p>Kid cleared his throat noisily to interrupt his experience, his face reddening with embarrassment. "We've been hearing rumors that this place is of the…old…mermaids in the ocean thing, and…"</p><p>"I spoke with an older woman, today," Law interrupted him grimly. "She wanted to apologize for her part into something she mentioned you were involved in. She also mentioned that one of these creatures was pulled from the waters, and a mob, and – "</p><p>Garp looked unsettled, giving a reluctant look at the pictures hanging on the walls nearby. They were of smiling faces and stoic expressions in different settings. Kid noticed that there were no mermaid knickknacks anywhere. Everything was either chrome or with a plain white frame. He had to wince.</p><p>"You must've ran into Pudding, then," Garp then said gruffly, looking at something in the distance. "She must've been…very old."</p><p>"She mentioned that this was possibly her last visit here."</p><p>Garp then looked at Law. His expression steeled a bit as he studied his features. Law found himself looking at the floor with such close scrutiny.</p><p>"Who is your family?" Garp asked him. "You look like an older version of my dumbass grandson."</p><p>"No relation, really."</p><p>Kid frowned at Law while Luffy wore a puzzled expression, unable to see his father in Law's features. Kid noticed that Law didn't answer the question. Garp rose from the couch, stepping over his grandson but knocking his head with one slippered foot.</p><p>"My house isn't haunted," Garp insisted, heading to the kitchen. "But this entire area is full of spooky stories. One of them being a drunken sailor's tale. One of the boys back then found a man in the sea. A foreigner. Must've been part of a shipwreck to be out there in those waters. He was allowed to settle here. Pudding was part of it – back then she was a young lady being forced to marry a man she didn't wanna; she struck up a friendship with this foreigner. Her family didn't like it, so he just disappeared. That was a crime people don't like to talk about. All that meanness and spite must've caught up to her – she's years younger than I am!"</p><p>The three of them absorbed the tale. But there was something that pressed at Law. For a moment there were men's voices in the distance – only one desperate one calling out above the rest. It was chaotic because his throat tightened and his chest felt like it was caving in. Kid glanced at him so Law composed himself with a worried frown.</p><p>Garp made himself a sandwich, Luffy helping himself to the fridge's contents. Garp looked at the pair that still stood uncomfortably in the foyer, giving them a lopsided smile. "It isn't a grand tale – up here, things like that happen more often than you think."</p><p>"See, I might've accepted that short story, but after the things we've been seeing lately – no dice," Kid said, hands cutting across the air. "There was an actual <em>dead man</em> in my shower. He said he wanted something given back to him."</p><p>Garp focused on cutting the crusts from his sandwich and poured himself some milk. Then he cleaned up the area – still leaving behind a sloppy mess. He shrugged as he took a huge bite of his overstuffed sandwich; Kid and Law wondered once more <em>how</em> this man was dying.</p><p>"My house isn't haunted," Garp insisted, spraying the air with food bits. "I've lived there all my life, and nothing weird happened to me. I don't even believe in ghosts!"</p><p>Seeing that they weren't going to get much from him, Law studied the pictures hanging on the walls around them. Focused on a picture where Luffy was smiling with a couple of other boys, he said, "How many pieces did you find?"</p><p>Garp choked on his sandwich, Luffy lowering the milk jug from his mouth with concern. "Pieces of <em>what</em>?" Garp asked Law angrily, wiping crumbs from his chin.</p><p>"Pieces of the foreigner."</p><p>Garp's lips tightened with reluctance.</p><p>Luffy shut the fridge door. "Weren't you like a sheriff or something back then, old man?" he asked. "You were a policeman, right?"</p><p>Garp shoved him into the pantry and closed the doors behind them, causing Kid and Law to look at him with accusation. But he sighed heavily, returning to the kitchen island to pick up the fallen pieces of what remained of his sandwich. "I was," he said heavily. "Just a recruit back then, fresh off the racks."</p><p>"So you know <em>exactly</em> what we're talking about!" Kid exclaimed. "Maybe all this shit is the cause of <em>your</em>unsolved mysteries! I demand you give us a break in rent, or something…"</p><p>Garp frowned at him. "You're already living there rent free, boy. It's your responsibility to treat that place like it were your own. As for <em>your</em> question, Miss Pudding didn't mention she was the cause of that mess? She told her brothers that this young man mistreated her, they put the boots to him, and come to find out there weren't such things at all. She was angry he'd rejected her. It was a human crime without a resolution because there was no one left to testify what happened."</p><p>"<em>Unsolved</em> crime," Kid pointed out, "if that's the only name you give the guy."</p><p>"Back then, we didn't have proper records. Anyone could get deliberately lost."</p><p>"Then why's the ghost bothering us?"</p><p>"There's <em>no ghosts</em>! It's <em>not</em> haunted!"</p><p>Law frowned at them as Kid and Garp stared at each other menacingly. From the pantry, Law could hear Luffy crunching on something noisily, the rustle of plastic obvious from his position. He looked down at his hands.</p><p>"I pulled Luffy out of the hands of a creature underwater, from where the pier broke," he said slowly. "Probably the very same one that pulled me down as well when our boat overturned. I am not a man that imagines things – but these things I could see vividly. And in your tub, there was a body of something with fins protruding from the elbow – empty salt containers on the floor. Blood on the walls. If that wasn't your house when these things happened, then <em>who</em>did it belong to so that we may ask them?"</p><p>Kid looked at him skeptically while Garp's expression twitched ever so slightly. Despite his stubbornness, his older features began to furrow with puzzled action.</p><p>Luffy continued to eat noisily from the pantry, Garp shooting the closed doors a look of irritation. He kicked the doors, causing the teen to scream with alarm then returned to brace himself against the kitchen island.</p><p>He exhaled heavily, his expression reluctant. "It <em>might</em> be haunted," he admitted slowly, Kid releasing a victorious exclamation. "But why it would come back up after all this time…? That part I can't figure out."</p><p>"Hasn't it always been here?" Law questioned, venturing into the kitchen slowly. "Because men are dying."</p><p>"It's true, that sea hates men," Garp scoffed, "but not in the way that you think. People <em>drown</em> because that's what they do when they fall in water. There's no fish! Those old bastards still alive over there had their grandsons figure out the internet and supplied false hope to those on contract! It's a failing town, they need business however they can get it. There hasn't been any fish there in ages!"</p><p>"Because of the mermaids chasing them off!" Luffy supplied from the pantry, Garp snarling in his direction. "It all makes sense!"</p><p>"<em>Quiet</em>, before I ship you off to college like the others!" Garp threatened him, Luffy groaning before stuffing his mouth with something that muffled it. Garp looked at the other two with reluctance. "Who told you about the mermaids?"</p><p>"Some old guy at the restaurant," Kid supplied.</p><p>Garp gave a barking cough. "Those old bastards would say nothing about them."</p><p>"The woman I spoke with said that they're atoning for a crime that – " Law supplied before Garp cut him off.</p><p>"What happened won't ever be forgotten or forgiven," he said sharply, wearing an expression that didn't invite argument. For a moment he saw something the others couldn't see, and he quickly reset himself. He suddenly seemed a little more cooperative. He left the kitchen, wondering back to the living room. Once Luffy registered the silence, he quietly pushed the pantry door open to peek out, seeing the other two follow after Garp.</p><p>The old man settled on the couch, looking every year of his age. It seemed like every part of him sagged heavily at that moment – his past and illness reminding the others that he was still a man headed for death.</p><p>"Rumor has it," he said slowly, "was that a mermaid, or…a mer<em>man</em>, was pulled out of the sea one year. It wasn't the type of creature you'd ever forget. It wasn't pretty or attractive – it was a fright of a creature guaranteed to give you nightmares if you saw it. It was caught in a net."</p><p>All at once, Law saw it happen. It was a beautifully sunny day, the cold manageable with a light jacket. Sea gulls cried overhead as the hoist engine rumbled noisily. The net was full of fish, but it was also holding captive a being which none of them had ever seen, before. It looked back at them with lifeless, fish eyes that twisted and bulged like its neighbors', gills flinching. Dark flaps that passed for lips pulled back to bare large, wide teeth with sharp canines, wide tongue vibrating noisily against the roof of its mouth. The weight of the world left it floundering weakly, thin arms flapping in an effort to return to water. It made strange clicking noises – like a dolphin did. Chattering noisily with the edges of fright and alarm as it kept its head twisted to stare at the gaping men. Its flesh was translucent, like a deep water fish's body – its inner organs vaguely visible in the bright sunlight. But it also bore a skeletal structure like human's until its waist disappeared with the appearance of a long fish body.</p><p>No one was capable of moving, staring the net in stunned, frightened silence – the creature was absurdly thin and long, with skin that seemed to sag as long, curved fingertips grasped the net with urgency. It was suffocating, clicking noises weakly falling away to be replaced with noiseless gasps. Its large, emotionless eyes seemed to bulge further, darting this way and that as its long tail flapped against the quivering bodies of the fish around it.</p><p>Without thinking Law cut the net down, and the fish dispersed as the ropes fell away. The large, unknown creature fluttered away from the surface, disappearing into the murky darkness below. At that moment the other fishermen came to life.</p><p>Law blinked hastily, Garp's voice meandering on about the town's history and trade. What alarmed him was how he caught himself thinking that this was a <em>memory</em>; realized he was placing himself in a situation that happened years ago. <em>Long</em> before he was born. So confusion warred with his acceptance.</p><p>"People thought they were crazy," Garp scoffed. "Mermaids aren't real – what they saw wasn't real. It didn't even have <em>breasts</em>! All they saw was a deformed fish, and they blew it out of context!"</p><p>"But it was real," Kid insisted. "That's why this is all…the way it is."</p><p>Garp frowned with reluctance. "It was," he admitted. He looked away, shoulders sagging heavily. "Somehow, that creature became a man…"</p><p>With Garp's voice in the background, Law saw vividly the shape of a man's head emerging from the water, looking nothing like the creature he'd seen before. There was a warm feeling that burst inside of him seeing that successful expression as salt water was blinked away by thin, blond eyelashes. His mouth hurt with a smile of his own, watching the man emerge from the water.</p><p>"…and he was accepted into the town as a foreigner. It was accepted that he was a survivor of some ship wreck off the coast, and…the people gave him a name. They allowed him to live amongst them. Then they found out what he really was because a young woman felt <em>scorned</em>." Garp trailed off suddenly. He looked upset all of a sudden, Luffy hurrying over to him with concern. Garp pushed him away. "If it's coming back after all this time…I can't imagine why. That secret was supposed to have died years ago."</p><p>"Maybe it's that lady's fault," Luffy said with a frown. "Her coming back brought back the ghost."</p><p>"She mentioned that she came here year after year to pay her respects, or whatever," Law said, his voice unnaturally thick with emotions he couldn't exactly separate. He cleared his throat to speak clearly. "Maybe she's dying, too."</p><p>Garp frowned. "Pudding was a very young woman at that time. Not even twenty. The baby of the family. When she didn't get what she wanted, all she had to do was tell her brothers. But they weren't the ones to kill him – it was the others. The old men. Men that gave nobody any reason to suspect they were capable of what they did."</p><p>"What'd they do?" Luffy asked curiously.</p><p>Garp's jaw twitched with tension.</p><p>Those voices of a night a long time past returned to Law. He was looking down at a mob of angry, screaming men on the beach, where the pier had not yet been built. They carried flashlights and tools, and they were dragging their victim through the sand. The helpless cries for help went unanswered. There was a sharp pain in Law's chest that felt like fault and responsibility. A deep shame in cowardice – emotions that physically <em>hurt</em> him. He found himself forcing away from the memory by focusing on the smiling faces of Garp's family on the walls, Kid looking at him suspiciously.</p><p>"There was a lot of anger and fear back then," Garp muttered bitterly, hand to his chest; as if rubbing away the same pain Law felt. "Men feared what they didn't understand. Ruined it for the rest of us. Now they spend their lives afraid to sleep, knowing that it's a matter of time when they get dragged into the water with the remains of their crime."</p><p>Kid scoffed. "They could just move away! Why live by the water if they were so freaking scared?"</p><p>"Those that attempted to escape died on their way out," Garp said airily. "Car accidents, heart attack…cancer. The place is cursed. Those that were around when the crime happened…they suffer."</p><p>Luffy furrowed his brow. "That old lady Law was talking to? Didn't she move away?"</p><p>"She was…very ancient," Law supplied unhelpfully. "Long beyond your age, Garp."</p><p>Garp looked at him with doubt. "She was twenty years <em>younger</em> than I back then. If she aged more than me, than she was definitely affected."</p><p>Law had to consider this. The woman he'd spoken to looked like someone on the verge of death.</p><p>Kid frowned, then rolled his eyes. "Not much of a ghost story, then."</p><p>"Until it happens to you. You mentioned you were approached by a ghost? Claim my house is haunted?" Garp looked at Kid with a pointed expression.</p><p>Before Kid could answer, Luffy asked, "But you tried to help, right? So it doesn't make sense that you were a part of it…you got cancer…"</p><p>Garp was silent for a few moments, head hanging. But he nodded. "I was only one against many. But that's how angry the sea is. We were given a gift and we…destroyed it because we were afraid of it. Because it wasn't natural, it wasn't human, because it wasn't what the book demanded that we should be - pick one."</p><p>'<em>No one will understand. It's not accepted here. So say </em>nothing…'</p><p>Law understood that it was his own voice in that memory, speaking stern words of warning to a man that looked up at him with impatient understanding. But he wasn't exactly clear why this was <em>his</em> memory. How could it be his when he had never set foot here, before?</p><p>Was he possessed with the ghost of someone else?</p><p>But he said nothing because the fact that this story was emerging as something they were supposed to believe in felt too fantastic to bear.</p><p>"It always bothered me," Garp said slowly, "that this <em>thing</em>…this creature who was designed to live underwater…suddenly became a man. <em>Suddenly</em> decided to live amongst us. What was that movie about the mermaid that became human because she fell in love with a prince?"</p><p>"'The Little Mermaid'?" Kid answered skeptically.</p><p>Garp snapped his fingers in response. "<em>That</em> one. By the time everything had ended, I could not ask him if there were something bigger where he came from to grant his wish for him. I mean, if you think about it, what if there's something else crawling around down there? Ha ha!"</p><p>Despite themselves, the trio ended up feeling differently about the sea. The three of them considered the possibility of something unknown deep in the murky waters that had been upset by a broken deal.</p><p>'<em>How are you here with me, right now</em>?'</p><p>'<em>I can't tell you that</em>,' the recently turned man said with a thick accent, looking merry as he wore human clothes for the first time, '<em>because you wouldn't believe me</em>!'</p><p>'<em>You come from deep underwater! What's not to believe</em>?'</p><p>'…<em>Are you hungry</em>?'</p><p>Garp slapped his knee and roared with laughter. The sound was so loud and fierce that the three of them jolted despite themselves.</p><p>"<em>What's wrong with you</em>?" Kid bellowed impatiently at him, reddening as Luffy panted, trying to catch the breath that left him.</p><p>"It isn't anything for any of you to worry about," Garp said, wiping his eyes. "Because none of you were involved with the matter directly. You're only here on contract. But if I were you, I'd stay out of those waters. You don't know what's down there, now. <em>Could be</em> that something chasing away the fish as revenge."</p><p>Kid punctuated his words with the back of his hand against his open palm. "None of this explains anything about the ghosts in the damn house!"</p><p>Garp waved him off. "Check my basement."</p><p>: :</p><p>"'Check my basement'," Kid muttered bitterly hours later, as the trio stared down the stairs. "'You'll find the answers there.' 'My place ain't haunted'. <em>Listen to me make shit up</em> – why that - ! I'd <em>kill</em> the old man myself to end his suffering! He's making a fool out of all of us! Literally <em>nothing</em> of what he just told us has to be true, Luffy!"</p><p>Luffy laughed, hands on his stomach. "He's so funny! He's always keeping us on our toes!"</p><p>"Maybe he's got dementia," Law supplied, rubbing his goatee with curiosity.</p><p>All of them were staring at the insertion of a wooden blockade built four steps down from the basement door, clearly denying them access. Kid knocked on it, but it told them that there was nothing hollow behind it. He reached up and tugged on the switch to an overhead light that none of them could see. They could hear the activation but the lack of visible light told them either the bulb was long gone or hidden behind the new insertion.</p><p>Luffy brightened. "There's a way in from the ground out back!"</p><p>It was early in the morning, and no one was awake around them. So Law felt self-conscious and guilty as they left the house with flashlights and searched for the doors Luffy remembered leading into the basement from outside. The air was heavy and cold, with fog visible in the distance. The smell of wood burning hung in the air, colored it with visibly thick smoke. Theirs needed refueling. Once Luffy found the doors, covered by scraps of metal and old, broken branches, he and Kid hastily cleared it all away to find the handle chained together with a lock. Law had anticipated that, already rummaging through the nearby shed for some cutters. Once he found those and had the chain snapped, Luffy yanked the doors open.</p><p>With their flashlights focused through the opening, the three of them stared with incredulity at what they found. Luffy crouched and knocked on the brick with impatient raps.</p><p>Kid looked to Law, who frowned deeply. "Methinks Garp is doing his best to cover up his own crime."</p><p>"What's interesting about this matter is the brick positioning," Law murmured, causing Kid to look back at it with a frown. He noticed that the brick set in place was braced against the doorframe from the inside of the basement. So he straightened away from it with a start then looked at Law impatiently.</p><p>"So he did this first! Don't think too deep into it."</p><p>Law looked at him, and smiled thinly. "Go break the wood down, Eustess. Certainly you have some strength in that…?"</p><p>Kid glared at him while Luffy looked back at them, wondering what the challenge was about. But he followed after Kid as the taller man strode back inside with impatient muttering. Law stared down at the brick that prevented access to the basement. Then calmly shut the doors behind him as he turned to follow.</p><p>"It's too late."</p><p>Law froze in mid-step upon hearing that voice. He turned to look behind him for the source of it, hearing Kid's and Luffy's excited voices fade with their distance. It was cold and still outside, and nothing seemed to move. It allowed him to hear the waves hit the shore, the bar music from the center of town. There was men's laughter to the north, and a television set blasting from someone's darkened house nearby.</p><p>To hear the voice that close to him caused the hairs to rise straight up on his arms. But guilt followed closely behind.</p><p><em>Why did he feel and see these things</em>?</p><p>His step atop of matted and browned grass caused a slight crunch underfoot. The light from various streetlamps allowed a gently illumination in the darkness. Just enough to scan a bare back yard and an opened shed with random knickknacks inside. But he saw the shape of a man standing against the shed, facing him. There was something menacing about it. While the shape didn't fit anyone that he knew personally, there was something he felt was wrong with the image.</p><p>He wasn't sure how to answer that accusation.</p><p>"I know that," he said low.</p><p>The glint of eyes staring back at him made Law feel apprehensive. But that shape stepped backwards away from the shed and left the shadowy shape of the structure behind. Law saw his breath as he exhaled uneasily.</p><p>Once inside, he saw that Kid had given himself enough distance in the kitchen to run at the wooden wall on the basement stairs, intending on smashing through it with his brute force alone. Luffy encouraged him. Law looked at the axe he'd found near the outside wood pile and held it behind his back as he watched Kid charge through the basement door. Wood shattered against Kid's weight and force – the obscene smack of body against brick made both him and Luffy wince. There was another crash and clatter of sound as Kid hit the stairs, crying out with pain. Wood rained down around him. Law set the axe aside near the stack of wood and crossed the space necessary to look into the basement stairway. The brick wall was similarly set as the other – clearly constructed from the <em>inside</em>. He nodded with confirmation as Kid slowly and painfully picked himself up, pushing and breaking aside wooden planks to do so. Law was impressed – those were incredibly thick planks.</p><p>He waited for Kid to stop rubbing himself, emerging from the stairway with a pained expression. Luffy crouched, whistling low at the damage the bigger man had made.</p><p>"Wow, Kid, you're strong," he said with awe.</p><p>"Shut up, that's a homo thing to say," Kid snapped at him.</p><p>Something inside of Law twitched – bringing forward intense feelings of shame and self-loathing. It made his vision blur.</p><p>"There was nothing <em>homo</em> about it!" Luffy protested, straightening up. "It was just a guy giving another guy a freaking compliment!"</p><p>"Yeah, in a homo way!"</p><p>"Whaddaya <em>mean</em>?"</p><p>"The way you <em>said</em> it was a freaking <em>homo</em> way about it! I don't appreciate that shit."</p><p>"I was in goddamn <em>awe</em> of your abilities to break down walls, not commenting on you in any other way! Damn, you are so sensitive…"</p><p>"Despite your wrecking ball intentions, Miley Cyrus," Law spoke up over their argument, taking the few steps down to the brick wall that prevented them access to the basement, "it looks like we've reached the same conclusion as the other side."</p><p>Kid paused in arguing with Luffy to look back at Law's observation. He did see the way brick had been inserted and layered with concrete in such a way that it pushed against the stairs and walls from below. The thought that someone had barricaded themselves into Garp's basement made all of them uneasy.</p><p>Kid looked to Luffy, whose face was furrowed with thought. He looked up at them saying, "You know, I just remembered – we never had a reason to come down here so I don't know if this was something he did recently, or long time ago. This door was always closed, but I remember the outside door being out there because gramps always yelled at us for tripping over it."</p><p>"What is the thing that people use to break down brick?" Kid asked Law.</p><p>"Your head," Law supplied helpfully.</p><p>Luffy scratched thoughtfully at the crown of his head as Kid and Law grappled away from the basement, insulting each other. He stared at the brick wall, positive Garp had never entered it while Luffy and the others were visiting. He knocked on it, sure Garp had a sledge hammer or a jack hammer in the shed. Just as he turned to go and retrieve the items, he heard a faint knock back.</p><p>Sure he was hearing things, Luffy leaned against the wall and knocked twice. He was answered with knocks from the other side. He was sure this was part of the haunting, and felt both excited and scared over it. He reached out with a foot to kick the wall and got the same response.</p><p>"Hello?" he whispered, hearing Law and Kid shout at each other.</p><p>"<em>Hello,</em>" someone replied from the other side of the wall.</p><p>Luffy crammed a hand into his mouth to keep himself from squealing. His heart was thundering noisily, considering he was talking to a ghost. He swallowed hard and pressed against the wall once more, thinking about his next word. His fist propped against the wall near his head, his mind raced for a suitable question.</p><p>He bit his lips then whispered, "Are you a mermaid?"</p><p>There was silence from the other side of the wall – what sounded like the couch shifted with violent movement. Kid screamed noisily, "<em>My balls</em>!"</p><p>Luffy heard a soft answer. "Yes."</p><p>His eyes widened with excitement. His pulse raced once more. Licking his lips he pressed the side of his head against the wall, whispering, "Then how do you poop?"</p><p>The wall vibrated with intense violence, causing him to jerk backward in reaction. Kid couldn't even move it – so to think that the thing on the other side of it could do so caused Luffy great fear in its physical power. He scampered out of the stairway, shouting that he knew where Garp kept a jack hammer.</p><p>: :</p><p>Long after the trio had left him, Garp studied every picture he had hanging on the walls. There was something heavy in his gut that told him something was wrong with the encounter he just had. He couldn't quite place a finger on it. The uninvited memories of that horrible night had come back to him in powerful waves – they rumbled through his thoughts with the force of a hot punch, reminding him of the one time he'd failed to protect and enforce. When he couldn't find what he was looking for on the walls, he shuffled to his room to look through his photo albums.</p><p>He remembered the faces of everyone involved that night. He remembered the heavy silence and stillness the next day, when the morning light illuminated their crimes. He could smell the salt of the water that lapped at the shore, gently reaching for the remains of the freshly murdered…<em>thing</em>.</p><p><em>That</em> was engraved within his mind so brilliantly. The fish-like bulge of the creature's dead eyes, the gaping mouth that revealed plant-eating teeth, the thin strands of yellow hair, barely visible within the caress of water. Its skin was white and translucent, the same texture and color as a fish's underbelly. Cutting tools – <em>murder weapons</em> – were abandoned in the sand. In the midst of the murderous frenzy, the parts that were pulled from the creature were already tossed into the waters, disappearing into depths unknown. All that was left of the thing was the near similar body of a man, insides stringing out over the beach; a fish carcass ripped apart by birds. There were three people standing in the sand, staring at the corpse in stunned silence. Their clothes were stained with the creature's blood. They ignored the one laying beyond them, face down in the sand and forgotten for the convenience of it.</p><p>One of those men, Garp remembered, would hang himself a week later.</p><p>Another died in his sleep three days after that.</p><p>The other perished in a car accident two months later.</p><p>The rest of the mob began to die under mysterious circumstances that made it too much of a coincidence. Eventually, what was left of them convinced each other that they couldn't leave this town – they had to face what they'd done. And men continued to go missing at sea, blanketed with flimsy excuses.</p><p>Garp always wondered what happened to Pudding. He remembered seeing her later on that day, standing at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the stains on the sand. Her hands were fisted at her sides, as if clutching a secret. He felt a helpless rage towards her when the motives began to emerge from the heavy aftermath; but in the end, it wasn't all her fault. It was those that had taken up the actions to kill a creature of the sea in the way that they had – <em>it was their fault</em>.</p><p>Garp found the picture he was looking for. It was nestled in one of his photo albums, behind one of Sabo's high school graduation pictures. He picked it up with a hard suction of breath, feeling incredulous once he found his answer. It was a photo taken of all the fishermen standing on the main dock in the marina, ready to hit the sea. They wore clothing that fit the time, bundled for warmth. But he would recognize that face because he had just <em>seen</em> it.</p><p>In the fit of recognizance, he realized that while the face was familiar the person was not. In all the time Garp had lived there in that small town, he did not know who this person was – and he'd known everyone. His wrinkled brow furrowed with mystification. He reached for the phone but something deep inside of him strummed with such hot, piercing pain that he released a strangely startled noise.</p><p>Unsure of where the pain came from, he looked down at his chest while his skin broke out in a cold, clammy sweat. Vertigo rendered his vision and comprehension astray – he closed his eyes to focus as his empty hand clutched his shirt, feeling pain strike through his jaw and shoulder.</p><p>"Dad?" he heard called tentatively from across the hall. "You okay?"</p><p>Garp made to answer. But the rest of him slumped over his bed while his heart raced and pounded with all the ferocity of a horse dashing towards the finish line. It was then gripped with all the strength of something intending on crushing it – the pain was fiery and raw, and his throat clenched. His eyes watered to blur the world as he looked to the doorway to answer his son. There was someone standing there – a man in all black. He couldn't see his individual features, but he recognized the suit. He heard the movement from his son intending on checking on him, the figure remaining motionless in the doorway.</p><p>All of Garp's words jumbled up in his throat, and fell away from his tongue in odd noises.</p><p><em>Why </em>now<em>, after all this time?</em> he thought furiously, but the tension in his hands released and the photo album and the picture he'd held fluttered to the floor noisily. His son hurried into his room moments later, but Garp was already gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>FOUR::</strong>
</p><p>When the bricks finally fell, Luffy pushed through first. Kid wrangled the jackhammer back into the living room, removing his safety glasses. Peering through the hole made in the brick wall, Law was reluctant to actually venture into the darkness to see what was down there. Luffy ran to the end of the stairwell and paused on the last step – the light from the kitchen didn't reach down here, and the darkness was a little overwhelming now that he was looking at it. He looked back at the others to see if they were coming, fingers tapping together nervously.</p><p>"Hurry up, you pussies," he said, hoping he sounded motivating. Law rolled his eyes at him while Kid pushed past him with a gruff noise. But once he reached the teen, he realized with a grimace that he could not see a thing. He looked over his shoulder at Law.</p><p>"Bring a flashlight down here! What are you hanging back for?"</p><p>"I'm waiting for whatever it is to kill you two first so I can safely flee," Law answered, looking for the spotlight Kid had used earlier to find the jackhammer.</p><p>"Too bad for you!"</p><p>"It ain't going to happen! We'll kill the ghost first!"</p><p>"We can't actually <em>kill</em> ghosts - !"</p><p>"We can <em>try</em>!"</p><p>"Ha ha ha! Kid, you're so ambitious!"</p><p>Sighing low with agitation, Law found the spotlight and tested it before reluctantly making his way back to the stairwell. He ended up hugging it to him as four grabby hands reached for it. Kid impatiently shoved him ahead of them in reaction and Law stumbled once his feet touched down onto concrete. Whipping the spotlight up, he saw that the basement was largely clear and empty. Kid and Luffy sounded disappointed as they joined him, the three of them huddled together as they followed the spotlight's focus within the slow sweep Law made with it. At the sight of a stacked pile of bricks, aged with time, set against the back wall, the three of them nearly wilted.</p><p>"No sign of dead bodies," Luffy said with a wheeze of relief.</p><p>"I…am kinda disappointed," Kid admitted, scrunching his face with the expression.</p><p>Law felt some of this as well, but he kept it to himself. He ventured in that direction, the other two continuing their close step after him. He ended up elbowing them both away for some space, both of them crying out with surprise and complaint. Kid shoved him back and Luffy gnawed on his arm, the three of them reacting with violence, spotlight dancing around the walls. It dropped to the floor, the cone of light catching a pair of legs sticking out from behind the pile of bricks. They pulled in slightly with a scratch of sound that miraculously caught the trio's attention.</p><p>Once they realized they were seeing black clothed legs with leather shoes, all of them stilled. The legs shifted again, pulling away out of sight. Kid jumped into Law's arms as he stumbled, Luffy freezing as a whoosh of air left them. The heavy stillness of the basement was suddenly suffocating – the silence was immense. Dust motes floated about in the spotlight's range as they waited for something to happen.</p><p>Law dropped Kid as he retrieved the spotlight, eyes rounded with horror. Luffy clung to his arm, jostling the device as Kid popped back to his feet. The three of them cautiously ventured over with bated breath. It took Law a few moments to find the courage to look over the pile – once they saw nothing back there, all three of them hurried back to the stairway. Luffy ended up pushing against both of them, preventing hasty escape.</p><p>"<em>Wait</em>!" he cried. "We can't be running from this thing! This is the reason why we're down here, right?"</p><p>"Why am I in the back?" Kid snarled, pushing them both aside to make his way to the safety of the stairway.</p><p>"It's not there anymore, what are we going to do to it if it's not there?" Law asked with gritted teeth, trying to push his way through. Luffy pushed against them with a mighty struggle. </p><p>Kid snatched the spotlight from Law's grasp and blinded them both before whipping it from side to side, scanning the basement for any sign of the disappeared <em>thing</em>.</p><p>"We can't show it that we're scared," he growled, pushing them both back into the basement in front of him. "Who the hell are we? Why are we showing this thing we're scared of it? Don't be pussies!"</p><p>"Says the guy using us as a shield!" Luffy exclaimed, looking around himself with round eyes.</p><p>Law exhaled harshly, trying to settle his wildly racing heart. Once he saw that there was nothing in the basement, he could feel himself relaxing a little. Kid whipped the light around to focus on the pile of bricks, venturing over with heavy steps. Law thought that Kid was walking in this way to somehow scare the thing, like one would with a mouse or snake. Luffy pressed up against him and Law shoved him away again. There was a concrete mixer near the pile, along with some bags of product with old style lettering. Tools were abandoned near the wall. The dust layering over it suggested that none of it had been touched in years.</p><p>"The fact that something built a wall to prevent its own escape still bothers me," Kid whispered, finding the other entrance into the basement. He was fairly certain that the brick wall had been made from inside. "So…where is it? There should at least be a body here."</p><p>There wasn't a body print where the legs of the man had been sitting. Kid ended up with his nails to teeth, gnashing nervously as he whipped the spotlight around them once more. There was something shoved up against the back of the staircase, he saw, elbowing one of the men at his right. Law rubbed his nose as Luffy caught sight of the box caught in Kid's spotlight.</p><p>The three ventured over to investigate, their boots scraping noisily against the floor. Something in the house settled, causing a sound that made them all jump. Law caught Kid's jacket and Luffy's hair as both made to run. Kid jerked away while Luffy howled in response, rubbing his head.</p><p>"Let's find out what this is," Law said steadily. With the light shining upon it, he could see that the box was handmade – but gently detailed with some images burned into the wood. The name 'Sanji' was burned into the lid. Law felt no reaction to the name. He reached for the metal clasp but Luffy suddenly lunged forward and threw himself atop of it.</p><p>"<em>We can't</em>!" he declared, looking at the pair with determination.</p><p>"Luffy, <em>move</em>," Kid ordered.</p><p>"I wonder if this is a Pandora's Box sort of thing," Law mused. "We open it, we release complications of which cannot be reversed…"</p><p>"We <em>can't</em> open this. This was here for a reason. The old man put it down here to avoid anybody looking into it!" Luffy said, wrapping his arms around what he could. But he had to understand that this box was built to fit the width and build of the back of the staircase.</p><p>"<em>Treasure</em>," Kid whispered with awe. "Like savings! He obviously wanted us to have it! He told us to come down here!"</p><p>"Maybe it holds all the evidence to past crimes," Law muttered. "Perhaps he's the murderer."</p><p>"He's not a murderer!" Luffy exclaimed. He slapped his hands on the box. "This is <em>obviously</em> his porn stash! He built this and left this here because it contains all the filthy smut he's ever bought from the dawn of time!"</p><p>Kid and Law stared at him for a few moments then both of them yanked him away, tossing him aside. To Luffy's dismay, they both opened the box without any other hesitations.</p><p>"You guys are sick, sick <em>scumbags</em>," he muttered, but hastily pushed his way in so that he could see for himself what it was Garp was hiding.</p><p>The smell that hit them caused them all to recoil away from it. The musty dust that rose with the lid opening spilled over the edges and wafted away with their movement. Covering their nose and mouths with the collars of their shirts or hoodies, the trio peered in. Inside was a half skeleton with its arms crossed over its sternum; a folded set of clothes wrapped in a plastic bag against it. Leather shoes covered in dust had been piled aside of it.</p><p>None of them had anything to say at that moment. But Law reached in and grasped the skull to pop it away from the spine, noticing that it was missing the lower mandible. It also felt soft and mushy in his fingers, flexible enough to mold with the pressure. There were dark scales pushing up from the upper ridge of the eye sockets, like a row of spikes leading up and over the skullcap. He couldn't tell if this were some well-crafted Halloween decoration or an actual leftover of some fabled relic. Kid reached in to nudge at the broken ribcage, his fingers coming away with dust. He ended up pressing on it once more, noticing the flexibility.</p><p>"Is this fake?" he had to ask aloud, looking to Law for answers. Seeing him holding the skull, all the worst of Hamlet jokes came to mind, but he refused to release them during this important moment.</p><p>Luffy furrowed his brow – he was a bit disappointed that this wasn't anything what he'd thought. But he sighed with relief. "I'm so thankful I will never know what kinds of Playboy my gramps was into."</p><p>"Why is there only half of it?" Law asked, looking into the box for the possibility of hidden compartments, but the box was simply made. He gently set the skull aside and handled the oddly curled fingertips that had been positioned up against the ribcage. They looked exactly like the ones he'd seen earlier that day, clinging to the tub. He dropped the hand abruptly, like he'd touched flame.</p><p>"This is that <em>thing</em> he spoke of," he said in an incredulous whisper. He indicated the severed spine. "This is only half a man."</p><p>"<em>Duh</em>, it's half a man, anybody can see that," Kid pointed out. "That <em>thing</em>? You mean that thing pulled from the ocean? <em>That</em> thing? No. That was just some…"</p><p>"Where's the rest of him, then?" Luffy questioned, reaching down to rattle the box and upsetting the skeleton within. He dropped it with a gasp. "It's the mermaid I was talking to!"</p><p>"You weren't talking to a mermaid!" Kid exclaimed impatiently.</p><p>"I did! Before we broke the wall down, I asked it if it were the mermaid and it said yes, and no, Kid, <em>I asked</em>, it didn't tell me how it pooped."</p><p>Over the sound of Kid slapping Luffy across the head, Law murmured, "It's looking for the rest of it. This word here…this is its name."</p><p>"<em>Sanji</em>," Luffy repeated, furrowing his brow as he rubbed his head.</p><p>"Looking for what? It's tail?" Kid asked skeptically. "<em>Shit</em>. That is…are you <em>high</em>? First of all, we can all agree here – there is a <em>man</em> walking around this house. There is a man <em>here</em>. This is…<em>not</em> a man. I mean, it is, but it's not what we saw."</p><p>"Look at the clothes, idiot."</p><p>Kid had to admit, he could not deny the presence of the clothes in plastic. He jerked that out from the box while Luffy once again looked in at the skeleton left behind. He grabbed the skull to examine it further. With some short movements, Kid yanked out the clothes from the bag, revealing black pants, a black coat and a blue shirt. All of them were faded and creased with age. But something heavy clinked within the coat, and after rummaging through the pockets, he withdrew the same gold lighter that Law had found the other night. He flipped open the lid to see the engraving of a mermaid inside.</p><p>All of them looked at each other with bewildered expressions.</p><p>"What'd you do with those clothes you had on?" Kid asked Law.</p><p>"I put them back in my closet."</p><p>"And these aren't the same?"</p><p>"No," Law answered shortly. He examined the clothes once more with a thoughtful expression. "They were a different set."</p><p>"And the lighter?"</p><p>"I'd left it in that jacket."</p><p>"<em>Go</em>. <em>Check</em>."</p><p>"I was already in the process of doing so, I don't need you telling me what and how to do it," Law snapped at him, abandoning the pair to do so with some minute relief. As he tromped upstairs with an agonizingly slow pace, Kid returned looking at the items in hand. He set the spot light down at the edge of the box while Luffy made faces as the skull.</p><p>"It's like a kid, so was this Sanji a kid?" Luffy observed, measuring it against his. Kid had to admit it was pretty small in size, but Luffy was made differently from other people. "So, should I ask Garp what this was?"</p><p>"Yeah. But…" Kid looked over everything with a frown, tossing the clothes over the other edge of the box. He retrieved the spotlight. "Why is it in here? What answers does this give us? We opened it, we found it, so…what's the old man trying to say?"</p><p>"That what he was saying is true," Luffy said enunciated, as if Kid were slow.</p><p>"That a bunch of people killed an actual <em>mermaid</em> named Sanji?" Kid scoffed at the concept, looking over the skeleton. The fact that its spine was mangled at the edges prompted closer investigation. Without any careful regard, he propped the skeleton against the box, bones crunching noisily as pieces crumbled to the floor.</p><p>"Don't break it! You're going to kill it!" Luffy cried with horror.</p><p>"Enough of your observant powers, they're useless here!" Kid took some time to examine the spine, noticing that the bone was scarred with what looked like knife lines. They were cracked, spreading into thin fractures that suggested immense force had been used to separate it from the hip. <em>If </em>there was a hip… "Not gonna lie, but something cut it. Separated it from, uh…his legs..."</p><p>"They cut off the <em>tail</em>. Law said something about Garp looking for pieces," Luffy said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "What if they had cut off his tail? What if that's what the mermaid is looking for?"</p><p>"Fat lot of good any of us can do about that now, years later," Kid said. "Because if they cut it up and threw it away into the water at that time, those things are <em>long</em> gone. Fish food."</p><p>"Cannibalism," Luffy muttered with a shiver.</p><p>Because the teen <em>technically</em> wasn't wrong, Kid had to agree. They heard Law walking back down the stairs.</p><p>"It's…not in here," he had to admit, shaking the jacket he held.</p><p>"So how did you get it in the first place?" Kid asked with bewilderment.</p><p>"I don't know. I know I pulled on my overalls that morning, so…"</p><p>"That Ambien stuff is no joke. Good thing you don't have a Twitter account…"</p><p>At the stares the older men were giving each other, Luffy decided not to bother with that.</p><p>Kid returned his attention to the box, shaking his head. "So…what do we do? What does this stupid ass ghost want from us?"</p><p>"You said he said 'give it back'," Law said slowly, folding the jacket he held over one arm, "so what is it that it wants back?"</p><p>All three of them shrugged a shoulder.</p><p>"When I saw it," Law said slowly, unsure if he wanted to reveal what might be more confusing parts, "it told me 'Don't leave me.' I have the understanding that…we are connected in some way."</p><p>Kid wiped his nose with his fingers. "Considering your sleeping problems and overwhelming debt, I wouldn't be surprised if you're some walking ghost."</p><p>"I would not be shy about my damn death!"</p><p>"Call the old man, wake him up," Kid ordered Luffy, retrieving his cellphone.</p><p>The basement door slammed shut, causing all of them violent jolts. It was a race to the stairway as they abandoned the box, pushing and shoving to climb up first. Once Luffy realized they were leaving behind the spotlight, he went back for it, hearing Kid and Law push each other on the way up the stairs. He made to run after them when he caught sight of someone standing nearby. Frozen, Luffy realized his fingers clenched tightly around the spotlight but he couldn't draw it up. It was enough for him to see the pair of legs that he'd seen earlier, leather shoes gleaming under the light.</p><p>The very same leather shoes that were stuffed into the box.</p><p>His mind went blank as dust motes fluttered around the cone of light. Light flooded down the stairway as the door was slammed open, Kid demanding an explanation once he burst out into the kitchen.</p><p>Shaking, Luffy lifted the light up the length of the body. Catching sight of the horrible face that Kid and Law had seen, his mouth dropped open. He was unsure of how to react, so he just froze. Millions of questions ran through his mind at that moment, but none of them emerged. He swallowed noisily, blinking repeatedly as the thing stood there in silence. <em>Sanji</em>, he remembered, but he could not bring himself to address it by its name. It felt improper giving something so horrid a name.</p><p>It moved towards him with a low hiss, cracked lips pulling open to show off white teeth. "I want it back," it croaked, clicking sounds following right after.</p><p>"I already ate it," Luffy said stiffly, quite positive that it wasn't what he really needed to say, but his thoughts were in knots. He smelled the heavy scent of the sea, realizing the thing was dripping on him. His clothes bore the wet drops of moisture as the thing loomed over him. He was frozen stiff, throat working as he struggled to release words.</p><p>There was absolutely nothing in those eye sockets – just black, empty caverns with horribly saggy skin around it. Skin that looked like the underbelly of a fish. Luffy could see its skull underneath – the flimsy lines of all its crevices pushing against its skin.</p><p>Before he could move, one hand plowed right into his midsection – Luffy expected to feel the force of the blow, the strength of the punch he could see and reacted with a loud shout. But there was nothing physical present – he looked down to see that arm retract slowly from his stomach, pulling with it a pile of what looked like slimy, red matter. He touched his midsection with panic, unsure of what the thing had taken from him.</p><p>"Then you'll never eat again," it told him venomously. But for a moment its shoulders wilted heavily. Shaking, pale hands settled over its left breast. It seemed to give a mournful sound, turning away from the light and disappearing into the shadows. Luffy stared ahead of him, confused by the action and the promise left behind. Blinking, he twisted around himself, looking for the spectre. He rubbed and punched at his midsection, pain making him wince. But he quickly made his way upstairs to join the others.</p><p>"Guys," he said breathlessly, "that thing was mad at me because I said a few things."</p><p>"You saw it?" Kid asked with horror.</p><p>"Yeah, we had a full conversation. It looks pretty creepy, no wonder you guys cried after you saw it."</p><p>Both of the men looked at Luffy with insulted expressions. The teen wasn't as freaked as they were when they had seen it. Luffy dropped the spotlight onto the couch, blinding Kid for a moment as the light hit him. The teen pulled up his sweater and shirt to look at his muscular stomach, flexing for a moment. Then he rapped on himself.</p><p>"There might've been <em>some</em> misunderstanding," he then said. "He said he wanted it back, I told him I already ate it, he punched me and took out my insides and I don't know what's going on, but he seemed pretty mad about it."</p><p>Kid looked as if his mind was blown. He wiped his face with both hands and dragged his fingers down the length of it while Law wondered if Luffy had just been cursed.</p><p>"What is it looking for?" Kid asked with exasperation.</p><p>Luffy shrugged, smoothing down his clothing. "I guess I call the old man and ask."</p><p>"Why can't we call it by its name?" Law asked curiously. "Are we still going to call it an 'it'?"</p><p>"Yeah, I mean…it's not a person, Law," Luffy said pointedly. "You can't name something that isn't a person."</p><p>Before any one of them could move, the woman's voice caught their attention. Law looked at them with a start, indicating that they listen to it. He was surprised at the volume. It was coming from the basement. He was pretty sure they hadn't seen any type of electronic down there, and stared into the shadows below with mystification.</p><p>Kid listened to it for a few moments, then furrowed his brow with concentration. He then looked at the clock nearby. <em>3:48 am</em>.</p><p>The house rumbled, wood popping and crackling. The windows were battered by a strange surge of wind, pushing tree branches against it and sending loose debris rolling in the streets. It was of catastrophic force – loud snapping sounds and the crash of falling trees alerted them to alarm. Glass shattered somewhere in the house, wind howling fiercely all around them. The roof rattled and protested noisily, debris flying away. Car alarms began to shriek and the electricity fluttered before cutting out.</p><p>The woman continued to sing.</p><p>The wind died just as suddenly as it arose, the silence within the house immense. Car alarms continued to shriek until their owners shut them off. Dogs barked frantically. The three of them looked at each other with uncertainty.</p><p>They managed to get some sleep and woke later in the day to some panic. There were a line of cars with over-stacked roofs, and trucks hauling trailers all along the road outside their driveway. Law watched them progress slowly, giving him the feeling that people were abandoning the town in preparation of an incoming storm. Kid had the local news on, and the stoic faced anchored expressed his own mystification of their small town coming under siege.</p><p>The beaches were flooded with a sort of high tide that spilled into people's yards and crept slowly through the parking lot. The pier was gone, the marina destroyed. Without a reasonable explanation, the sea slowly rose up into the small town.</p><p>Fishermen were forlorn to report that their boats had been damaged in last night's freak storm. Pieces were scattered about, the news team present catching sight of boats laying on their sides in parking lots and yards. The water continued to rise and people were evacuating hastily. Their house was located high above town for them to see the waters invading, but had no doubt that they were to evacuate as well.</p><p>"It's too weird," Kid muttered.</p><p>"We opened the box," Law said.</p><p>"Pandora's box!" Luffy shook his head. "Man, Pandora is <em>pissed</em>. Maybe we should'nt've done it."</p><p>Law frowned at him for allowing the expression to zoom right over his head. But something was bothering him. Luffy hadn't ate a thing since he woke up, and the kid was always with something in hand, or having his mouth full of a snack he'd hide from the others. To see him watching the events unfolding outside without anything in hand made Law think that the ghost of the thing they found had cursed him.</p><p>"We should apologize to him," Luffy said, nodding. "Just say we're sorry."</p><p>"<em>We</em> didn't do anything to him," Kid pointed out. "The old men did!"</p><p>"From the restaurant," Law said.</p><p>Luffy frowned with consideration. "Then we should have them apologize for this mess they've made."</p><p>Nearly an hour later, they left on foot from the house – with how traffic crowded the roads in order for people to evacuate, it was difficult driving anywhere. The parking lot was empty, but there were three older men standing outside, smoking and drinking from insulated cans, watching the water creep up through town. Houses and establishments closer to the shore had already been covered by swirling dark water, news crews frantically catching as much of the phenomena as they could. Townspeople were steadily evacuating, wearing faces filled with horror and sadness as they were forced to leave nearly everything behind. The water continued to move, inching over streets and pushing against debris caught in the force.</p><p>"We're closed, boys," their waiter from the other day said, gesturing at the sight. "For obvious reasons."</p><p>"We're not here to eat," Luffy stated firmly. "We opened Pandora's Box, and we're going to apologize for it. This only happened because it did."</p><p>At the blank stare from the men, Kid swept Luffy aside. "Don't listen to him, he's weird. Look, we talked to Garp because shit was happening in our house. He said something about you guys killing a mermaid a long time ago. We've been seeing it around the house, and it's haunting us."</p><p>The three men stared up at him. The one holding a cigarette dashed ashes to the side. It took them a few seconds, but they ended up laughing at him. Kid reddened as veins bulged in his neck and temple.</p><p>Law pushed him aside with a hand to the face. "I'll handle this. Both of you are making us look bad."</p><p>He walked up to the one chortling over his can of beer. He was short and burly, white hair swept away from his face and eyes covered with some bifocals. Like the others, his skin was spotted with age and his hands shook with every move he made. He stood in such a stooped manner that it seemed his spine had curdled into the shape of a handle of a walking cane. But years ago he was young with a ponytail and was capable of lifting whole barrels atop of one beefy shoulder. The name came to him as easily as the memory.</p><p>"Carne," he said slowly, testing the name as the man looked at him with a start. "I talked to Pudding the other day."</p><p>He looked to the others as Carne stiffened, can dropping from his hands. "Charlie. Vinton. Laugh all you want, but Garp told us what happened. Pudding confirmed that she'd seen it happen."</p><p>The trio stared up at him like they'd just seen a ghost. Kid and Luffy watched their reactions with expressions of doubt, shifting around to hide cold hands into their jacket pockets. They could hear the water rising steadily, dogs barking in the distance as traffic continued to move. Sirens sounded off in the distance.</p><p>"The box in Garp's home," Law said, eyes locked on Carne, "was that of a half skeleton. Said skeleton has been making itself comfortable around us. It wants something it's missing. And only you guys can tell us <em>what</em>."</p><p>"And it's name is <em>Sanji</em>," Luffy stressed, crossing his arms stubbornly.</p><p>None of the men said anything. The can Carne had been nursing rolled slightly, spilling its contents onto the wet pavement. After several long moments, they looked to the water they could see rising towards their area. Something flitted across their expressions. Whether it was regret or shame, Law couldn't tell. Vinton examined his cigarette before putting it out on Law's cheek, causing him to jerk back with a startled yell.</p><p>"Garp kept the thing?" Vinton asked with outrage. "It should have been let to sea that night!"</p><p>"For all the evils in the sea, he let that thing remain on land – of course it would be angry!" Charlie added, expression speaking volumes. "<em>Of course</em> it would rise once it was released!"</p><p>"We were fine with dying the way we were but <em>you</em> let that thing out of the box! This is <em>your</em> fault! <em>You</em> fix it!" Carne snapped as Vinton and Charlie retreated to the restaurant. Law hissed as he pressed his hands against his cheek, Kid and Luffy looking at him with horror. With that, the old man stalked to the restaurant, the doors shutting behind him with a bang. Kid stared incredulously after them.</p><p>"We don't even know what the fuck's going on!" he protested, arms out wide, facing the restaurant. He turned to Luffy. "Goddamn it! <em>Now</em> what were they blabbing about?"</p><p>Before Luffy could say anything, Kid stalked up to Law. There was a burn mark in his cheek that made Kid wince before Kid said, "And that was your brilliant plan? Pissing them off?"</p><p>"Not exactly," Law confessed, wiping his hands on his jacket.</p><p>Kid shook him impatiently. "Then tell us what you know! The context of this entire encounter is that there are actually <em>two</em> things out there!"</p><p>'<em>Did you make some sort of an agreement with a sea witch</em>?'</p><p>'<em>Dummy…there's no such thing as 'sea witches'</em>.'</p><p>Law straightened up, hearing those voices clearly. He furrowed his brow then looked to the sea with trepidation. It continued to rise up through the town like a slow moving creature, eating everything in sight. Trees rattled under the force and sea gulls screamed noisily. He couldn't imagine the force behind that power, unsure of how to accept that the sea was rising up to take some sort of revenge.</p><p>"In that movie, Ariel made an agreement with Ursula. She took her voice and told Ariel that she had to do a certain thing before she could get it back," Luffy pointed out grimly, hands in his pockets. "Ariel had to get the prince to fall in love with her so she could stay human. Maybe this mermaid did the same thing. So Ursula's coming to get everyone because she didn't get her end of the deal."</p><p>Kid looked at him with rattled impatience while Law found that crushing pain in his chest return. He rubbed it with trepidation as Kid exclaimed, "So <em>Ursula's</em> going to come out of that water and get us? The thing is <em>dead</em>! There's nothing to <em>get</em>!"</p><p>Kid grabbed Law's shoulder with a jerk. "I think we should throw that thing in the box into the water. I bet you money that the water will retreat and we'll end up saving this town. We can get out of our contract with that act of heroism."</p><p>"You just stole my idea!" Luffy exclaimed with outrage.</p><p>"We don't even know anything about the thing in the first place!" Law snapped, slapping his hand away. He pointed at the restaurant as Luffy's cellphone rang, Luffy answering it with a heavy sigh. "<em>Those</em> guys do. Look at the way they reacted. Guilt all over their faces…that woman mentioned they were the perpetrators. If we can get the exact story from them that we couldn't with Garp, then maybe we can ask the thing at the house what it wants."</p><p>"Like they're going to tell us anything," Kid scoffed, hands in his pockets. He looked back at the water with worry. "If it's a big octopus thing with old, saggy tits, I'm just going to tell you guys right now, I'm going to die first. Because that is <em>not</em> something a healthy, robust man like me wants to see."</p><p>Law stared up at him with disgust, shaking his head as Kid worried over this. Luffy slid his cellphone into his jacket pocket with a dazed expression.</p><p>"Hey, guys? Hey…I think…I'm going to go home," he said as they looked at him. "The old man died last night."</p><p>All the words on their tongue left them. Their expressions turned sympathetic as Luffy gave a low exhale, looking sad.</p><p>Awkwardly, Kid turned to him. "I'll give you a ride there."</p><p>"Thanks, buddy."</p><p>Law looked back at the restaurant as the pair began making their way back to the house. He could feel that they were being watched from behind the wide windows of the place, and the sting of the burn on his face ignited his anger. But he fisted his hands deep into his pockets and walked after the others.</p><p>The sea continued to rise behind them.</p><p>: :</p><p>Once the pair left the house, Law sat on the couch with a sort of dazed expression. With how vivid the images had been beforehand, he didn't understand why he wasn't receiving much of them now. The house was quiet, fire burning in the wood stove with a gentle crackle, and he could hear traffic moving quickly outside. The sea gulls were screaming today, fluttering around the town with heavy flaps of their wings. While Law understood that finding the box was significant, he lacked a great understanding of the overall event.</p><p>So he began to put them in order as he found his weed supply.</p><p>The ghost had first approached him that one night – waking him up with the song. He did recall that it had been nearly four am that morning.</p><p>It begged him not to leave him behind.</p><p>It said the same thing in the water when he was pulled under. He'd lost a week after that – so the thought that he could have been possessed in that time made him feel terribly uncomfortable.</p><p>Smoking outside, he watched people evacuate the town.</p><p>It seemed he was approached in a more mournful manner than the other two, who were confronted angrily. Were they a part of this as well? Reviewing memories that weren't his, he felt like the ghost mistook him for someone else. He couldn't help but wonder if his father had ever been a part of this town. But that didn't make any sense because his father's age misplaced him from the timeline.</p><p>Law couldn't help but realize that this was a failed romance. Garp had mentioned that Pudding had felt scorned, and Law had to acknowledge that the feelings, the expression he remembered sent his way – those were very real moments of romantic tenderness. At that period in time, he understood that homosexuality was quiet and rejected from society, so it made sense that it was conducted in secret. Pudding was angry at being rejected, so more than likely she'd exposed them.</p><p>Maybe that was the motive of the murder. The "creature from the sea" was only a victim of homophobic violence. But the memory of actually seeing the creature was vivid and very real.</p><p>Law headed back inside, sufficiently calm and relaxed. With the way the water continued to rise and the fact that they were high up on the hill, he didn't feel any urgency to evacuate. In fact…maybe without the other two present, he could do his own investigation without having them interfere with their inane hysterics.</p><p>He picked up the spotlight and headed downstairs. With the effect of his drug, he didn't feel the whole panic and fright thing – just a dazed disassociation from the present. The basement felt heavy and thick – he could <em>taste</em> the smell coming from the box. His stomach rumbled noisily, and he thought of Luffy's assorted chip stash hidden away in the cabinets upstairs.</p><p>It came as a soft but very clear whisper. "Are you hungry?"</p><p>Law paused on his way to the box, and flicked the spotlight around for the source of the voice. He didn't see anything, but the voice was loud and clear. He wasn't sure how to respond to it, tightening his lips in response. He ventured over to the box, looking down at the skeleton Kid had upset, and the clothes tossed atop of it. He picked up the skull, noting the difference that set it apart from a human's – he set the spotlight down, propping it so that the light gave him enough illumination to see. He ran his fingertips over the soft spiky scales that stretched up and away from the skull.</p><p>Something outside rumbled noisily – it sounded like the beginnings of a storm building in the distance. A roll of heavy thunder that echoed against an enclosed space – it made the hairs on his arms rise up. For a moment Law could convince himself it wasn't thunder but a low chuckle – something human.</p><p>The image of the creature he saw in the net came back to him. The traditional image of a mermaid wasn't this one – this creature was fit to swim in deep waters, with all the design of deep water fish. Its teeth suggested that it was a vegetarian, but capable of ripping apart flesh. The nose cavity were two tear drop shaped ducts, but slimmer than a human's – he remembered seeing them carved along the jawline, down the neck. The near translucent skin was spotted, allowing it camouflage from predators amongst the sea floor.</p><p>But what did a mermaid fear deep within those waters?</p><p>The memory that hit him showed him the human that emerged from the sea was clumsy with his legs. He had to be taught how to walk properly before others could see him. Law could see his feet leaving behind delicate impressions in the sand, the weight and feel of his hands clasped in his. Both of them were laughing.</p><p>He set the skull down abruptly, unnerved by the vibrancy of the memory.</p><p>It was upsetting to think that this was an actual part of him.</p><p>'<em>Were you granted a reprieve from the sea king</em>?'</p><p>This memory placed them both sitting against rocks beaten by the sea, hidden from the town's view. They could see the far off horizon of the world, settled by thick storm clouds and a setting sun. There were boats drifting in from the far left, and they were safe because they were angled away from sight.</p><p>'<em>There are no sea kings</em>,' he was told, by a mouth that smiled so delightedly. Then he was pierced by eyes that seemed to reflect honey in the settling light. They were brown, like the sea shore lapped with water but with the sunset hitting them, the color was nothing like he'd ever seen before. For a moment, that smile shifted. '<em>Just promises</em>.'</p><p>'<em>What happens if a promise is broken?</em>'</p><p>'<em>It's not something you'd have to worry about</em>,' he was assured, being smiled at once more. '<em>Because by the time the sun sets within a fortnight, I'm sure the payment would be in full</em>.'</p><p>'<em>That sounds a little suspicious…payment to something that gave you a promise</em>?'</p><p>Blond eyelashes fluttered with trepidation. Lips were tucked between teeth as an expression of worry and regret passed over a face that seemed more human than his own.</p><p>'<em>I'd do anything to be human…to be with you.</em>'</p><p>A clatter of sound jolted Law from that memory. He was frustrated when the picture left him, abruptly fading away like the blank screen of a television set. He wasn't sure what the sound was, but he wasn't going to worry about it. It felt like he was going to receive his answer. He looked around himself with a fitful expression.</p><p>He looked back down at the skeleton, gently settling the skull within. Then he attempted to pull the box out of the space, grunting as he did so. The clatter of sound caught his attention again and he straightened up. When he heard the sound of water spilling into what sounded like metal, he abandoned the skeleton to go look outside.</p><p>The water was lapping at the edge of the driveway. The police were already on his front porch, and Law knew he wasn't ready to evacuate quite yet. So he stood out of sight while the door was pounded upon with urgency. Someone on a loudspeaker ordered all those on the premises to evacuate immediately. After some minutes passed, and Law watched them quickly hurry away, he exhaled with relief. He looked around himself, then retrieved a trash bag from the kitchen.</p><p>As he was stuffing the remains of the skeleton inside, he asked aloud, "Who is looking for these bones?"</p><p>He heard what seemed like a shaky inhale from nearby. Glancing about, he didn't seen any change to the shadows or any shapes.</p><p>"That no longer matters," came the reply from what seemed like a broken voice. "It is too late…"</p><p>Law felt agitation rise within him. Furrowing his brow, he looked around once more. He recalled that Garp was looking for "the pieces."</p><p>"What pieces should I look for?" he asked, wincing because it felt like a useless question.</p><p>The sounds that filled the basement were uncomfortably raw. It was hard not to acknowledge the despair of a broken man. His chest ached. That heavy sense of responsibility and shame filled him so hotly that he winced once more, rubbing at his chest. He had to brace himself against the box because he was positive the feelings were sapping at his strength. Guilt, shame, cowardice – things a man felt and tried actively to run away from; tried to bury so that they could continue on, pretend that everything was okay.</p><p>It wasn't <em>okay</em>.</p><p><em>Are these truly </em>my<em> feelings</em>? he thought with bewilderment.</p><p>He caught sight of the forlorn shape of a man sitting on his knees in the far corner of the basement. It was not the thing he'd seen – it wasn't the creature, but a flesh and blood man that looked like he'd had his heart ripped out from his chest. It was alarming to see because Law felt a sense of responsibility and pain he'd never felt before.</p><p>He'd seen this man before. Being pulled out of the old restaurant by a mob of men, shouts and cries of panic piercing the air. He'd watched safely from behind an old shed, grateful he hadn't been identified. It was horrible seeing this man search for him, looking for his help. It was gut churning how scared he himself was because the mob could turn on him. He'd watched them drag the man towards the beach, to the place where the pier had yet to be built – where cries of outrage turned into cries of terror. Where people stood at the cliff side to watch as a man turned into a creature of the sea.</p><p>Law released the trash bag, the light giving him enough illumination to see features of the man he'd only seen in these strange memories. Tentatively, Law stepped back because he wasn't sure if he were talking to an actual man or a ghost.</p><p>Resolutely, the man lifted his head to look at Law. His expression was full of bitterness and regret. "He'd warned me that I would have to learn the hard way of what evils human beings were capable of."</p><p>Law couldn't respond to that. He felt the accusation like it were a piercing instrument, stabbing into his lungs, his heart – he knew it was true. But there was a smaller part of him that whispered of his own acknowledgement; he knew himself that there were human beings capable of evil in this world. The news ran a steady stream of it. He couldn't just stand here and be accused of something that he felt a strong denial over.</p><p>"Garp wasn't an evil person. He tried to help you – "</p><p>"He'd only slowed the process." A deep, troubled sigh flitted over the intense quiet of the basement as hands were examined with a long face. "I promised to give the sea lives in return for being human. That was the understanding."</p><p>Law looked to the open box, and realized that the waters rising were intending on swallowing them. The thought felt like a slap to the face. He looked at the trash bag of bones – what would happen if he'd returned them?</p><p>"Then those men killed you for being an abomination had a reason to do so – "</p><p>"I didn't know that it was an <em>abomination</em> to love a human being. If I had known, I wouldn't have given up everything because I decided to love a fisherman."</p><p><em>Well, who is the idiot, here</em>? Law thought blankly. <em>Like a deer falling in love with a hunter</em>…</p><p>"I learned that the hand that feeds you can also be the hand that kills you. That human beings can only love to the extent of their comfort – they can abandon it just as quickly."</p><p>Law thought of that memory once more – of cutting down the net that held the creature. He furrowed his brow as he considered that one act of kindness. Then thought of the recent memory, seeing this man pulled away by a mob. Feeling the return of gratefulness in that he could slip away unnoticed, the secret buried for self-preservation. Shame and guilt hit him like a mallet to the gut.</p><p>The man stood, standing on legs that seemed wobbly and new. He looked upon Law with heavy regret. Then he looked to the floor, his hands moving over his chest – rubbing fitfully, as if it hurt. Law realized that his own heart tugged immensely, as if it had been stabbed repeatedly, then clenched within a heavy grip. He realized then that this pain he felt – it wasn't entirely his own.</p><p>It was the ghost's.</p><p>He touched the area over the heart that felt these horrible things, feeling disturbed. Immense sadness filled him with a rushing wave – then was replaced with bitter regret all over again.</p><p>"I have your heart," Law stated, mainly to acknowledge the horrifying feeling rising up within him. The man's bitterness was the only confirmation to this fact – when Law blinked, rubbing his chest, the ghost was gone.</p><p>"You <em>left</em> me. He'll finish what I could not, and I will help him."</p><p>"Am I some sort of fucking ghost?" Law exclaimed, unable to understand. "I've lived my entire life self-aware, so why - ?"</p><p>"My heart only remembers here. I can hear it."</p><p>Uncertain of what that meant, sure that this was only a broken sentence, Law considered the heaviness in the disembodied voice. Resolution hit him.</p><p>"You want your heart back?" he asked low. "You can get it back."</p><p>The rumble in the distance sounded again – thunderous and strong, causing something upstairs to vibrate noisily. Law listened to this sound, sure it was only an incoming storm.</p><p>He realized that the ghost had spoken of a '<em>he'</em> but had not explained what '<em>he</em>' was.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <div class="storycontent nocopy">
    <p>
      <strong>FIVE::</strong>
    </p>
    <p>The exodus out of town made leaving it difficult. All roads out were full of evacuees that eyed the rising waters nervously; there was a hold-up that prevented any further movement, and word had yet to come back on why. Police and fire vehicles were posted along the main road, trying to make the evacuation easier for all involved. They wore tense expressions, dressed warmly for the weather, communicating with slight agitation on their radios that made the drivers nervous. From Kid's and Luffy's point in line, the pair of them could see the sea rising steadily through town. Despite it being a clear, sunny day, the water swirled with a color so dark that it seemed almost black. Luffy leaned against the window, watching it cover small houses nearest the beach with ease. Trees rustled in its path – powerlines tilted. Vehicles floated, brushing against exposed chimneys and knocking over smokehouses. The water was like a monster in its own standing – moving slowly while consuming everything in its path.</p>
    <p>Kid exhaled heavily as he gripped the steering wheel. "That guy's going to have to catch a ride," he stated over the rumble of his old truck's engine. "That water's coming up fast."</p>
    <p>"I'm not worried about him sticking around for that long," Luffy said, frowning. "He gets sick at the sight of it, now."</p>
    <p>"Think he's going crazy? He started getting really crazy after falling off the boat. It wasn't even a big thing," Kid said, gritting his teeth.</p>
    <p>"Maybe the mermaid ghost was trying to tell him something…" Luffy said with a sigh, trailing off. While thoughts of his grandfather flitted through his thoughts, this mystery was more important. He knew Garp's ending was coming close – the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, and his father had said there was no hope of recovery. Garp had laughed it off because it taken such a disease to kill him. Even up to the last night Luffy had seen him, it seemed unreal that Garp was dying slowly.</p>
    <p>Kid rolled his eyes skyward as they inched forward. He was aware Luffy had trailed off, but didn't bother pushing him. It felt awkward to even make conversation – they weren't that close. He glanced in the rearview mirror to see trucks pulling hastily packed trailers and RVs, worried faces seated in driver's seats. They had been sitting in the same spot for at least twenty minutes. In the horizon hung an incoming storm – it was normal for this type of year. Snow should be falling.</p>
    <p>The events were an unbelievable weight on his mind – he acknowledged that some freaky things happened, but their ultimate matter felt distant for him. Law had mentioned he'd seen things that were relevant to the situation, but Kid felt skeptical about it. The only thing that felt true were that the old men had given them reactions that made Kid feel like Law was telling the truth.</p>
    <p>He once again looked out at the sea, the waters swirling dangerously within the town's sleepy boundaries. There was something ominous about it that made him think that this was no natural phenomena – as hard as it was to acknowledge, there was a <em>ghost</em> interrupting their normality.</p>
    <p>He pulled off to the side of the road, tires pulling in the moist dirt and frozen grass. Luffy looked at him with question. Pointing out at the rising water, Kid said, "He's not making it out in time. We should go get him."</p>
    <p>Luffy looked relieved, opening his door as those behind them watched curiously. Others had left their vehicles, smoking and talking amongst each other, but most kept their vehicles running for warmth. "Good, because I was starting to feel bad about it."</p>
    <p>"What I think needs to be done is simple – that shit didn't start happening until we started messing around with the basement," Kid said, zipping up his coat and leaving his hazard lights on. He checked the row of cars for any sign of law enforcement, then followed Luffy down the hill towards some apartments. He could hear the rush of water – like a low rumble of noise that gave him an uncomfortable feeling. "So whatever we did, opening the box or whatever – it has to do with the body."</p>
    <p>"I wish the old man could have told us what to do," Luffy muttered with some bitterness. "Instead of telling us to check down there. But maybe he didn't know what to do, too. Maybe he gave that thing a coffin because no one else would."</p>
    <p>"The fact that he took the time to take it back to his house, make the box and do all that decorative stuff to it – that's either the guilt talking for him, or he knew the creep personally," Kid said, both of them climbing the fence to the complex, hurrying across the parking lot to round the building's edge without being seen. "I mean, I guess he tried to do something – so maybe it's guilt. But maybe the whole thing needed to rot in the sea naturally."</p>
    <p>"Then we throw it back there." Luffy decided with a nod. "We do that, we give it some peace."</p>
    <p>"That's what it comes down to! Peace! But you claimed it tried to kill you, too," Kid muttered thoughtfully. "It happened to him, too, that guy…maybe whatever it was down there tried to possess him? Which is why he lost track of time…?"</p>
    <p>Luffy gave him a skeptical look. "But mermaids can't <em>possess</em> people, Kid!"</p>
    <p>"Ghosts can! And that's a <em>ghost</em> at the house!"</p>
    <p>They had to take action to evade law enforcement's search of the area, their work allowing them to help people evacuate. They were also trying to gather animals left behind, dogs yelping and cats hissing from trees. The waters were rising fast, so it was a rushed decision to assist where they can. There was a group of young men lugging full coolers up a hill, making light of the situation by making sure they had enough beer to go around. The town was small, so Kid assumed everyone was mostly on the road. Those crazy enough to stay behind were either disabled or with a death wish. News crews had taken to the road after the last set of evacuees going up the road. In the distance, thunder rumbled, but both of them swore it was another sound entirely.</p>
    <p>Kid considered what he heard, looking at Luffy. "Was that a laugh?"</p>
    <p>"Oh, I don't know," Luffy said slowly, looking at the line of cars. "If it was, it was a very big man to laugh that way."</p>
    <p>Kid considered the rising waters. 'Maybe Ursula is on her way up."</p>
    <p>"I wonder if it's the Kraken?" Luffy mumbled to himself, taking a side road towards Garp's old house.</p>
    <p>Kid shivered at the thought. "I hope she's covered up. Consider it – octopuses' mouths are within the center of all their legs, right?"</p>
    <p>"I don't think <em>octopuses</em> is the right word to use here."</p>
    <p>"Imagine all those legs as being the lower half of an old woman's body," Kid ended with another shiver. He croaked, clutching his own throat. "Please don't let it be an Ursula! I don't think I can handle the thought."</p>
    <p>Luffy looked at him with a disgusted expression, shaking his head. "You're stuck on the idea, Kid. Let's get it out of ours head and think that perhaps it's a huge shark man! The body of a shark with all the arms and legs of a man!"</p>
    <p>They were horrified to see that the house was already with the sea's edge pushing against it. Most of the debris floating by were from the houses below – smokehouse rooftops, laundry, someone's broken down Camaro; the water was ankle deep by the time they climbed the front steps, looking at the water that swirled by. Fish carried by the current fluttered helplessly in the shallow of it, gulping with their wide-eyed stare as they were caught atop of various low shrubbery. Thunder rumbled overhead once more, causing the windows to vibrate – but this time, Kid was positive that wasn't a product of an incoming storm. He paused on the porch to look out, quite sure that was the sound of a low chuckle. Tree leaves rustled nosily within the light breeze, something metallic banging in the distance. There was a helicopter flying low where the sea had climbed, its painted sides telling Kid that it was an oceanic rescue crew looking for trapped survivors.</p>
    <p>Luffy hurried into the house with Law's name leaving his lips. He was dismayed to see water creeping up from the basement, spilling over the main floor. The sense of heaviness within the place made his arms pimple with goosebumps. Every cabinet door in the kitchen was wide open, but he wasn't inspired to fish for his snacks. He wasn't hungry. The thought startled him, wondering when he'd last ate. He touched his stomach, unsure of the problem.</p>
    <p>He had no will to eat, which was the strangest thought of all.</p>
    <p>Kid tromped in after him with a low whistle. "Good. He's gone, then."</p>
    <p>"I hope so," Luffy muttered, looking to the basement. Kid saw the dark water swirling past the broken brick wall, coloring the stairway. Both of them stood in the doorway, looking down skeptically. It was too dark to see anything, but it gave them some relief that Law was no longer there.</p>
    <p>The house shuddered, wood snapping suddenly. Figuring that the weight and force of the water was pushing up against the foundation, Kid pushed away from the basement. Both of them hastily gathered some things and left as the water built around their ankles and caused the furniture to float. Kid saw the mermaid clock floating within the dark waves, and picked it up. It had stopped at 3:48 pm. He shook it, hearing water slosh inside.</p>
    <p>Tossing that into his bag, he followed Luffy out the door. They were wading through water building around their knees, the cold temperature causing more than one verbal eruption. Kid whirled about, hoping Law had caught a ride with the police. The helicopter moving in the sky was nearing their direction, and he imagined being stuck with a high rescue bill, or accused of looting. He made to hide when a scream rang out over the water, causing the pair of them to jolt with surprise. Unable to guess the direction, both of them whirled about, ignoring the helicopter that flew overhead.</p>
    <p>Kid stepped to the left, sure the sound had come from that direction. He actually wasn't sure what type of scream it was – human or animal, the sound was gone too fast for it to leave an identifiable imprint. Debris slapped against his knees, nearly toppling him as Luffy examined the wire fence nearby, sure he could see better if he climbed atop of it. It surrounded Garp's property from his neighbor's – allowed for easy climbing and perching if needed.</p>
    <p>Pulling on his backpack, he reached up and hauled himself to the top, searching over the neighbors' places down below for anyone that might have been caught in the waters. Like Kid, he wasn't sure how to identify the scream he'd heard. Glass shattered as windows were broken by the force of the water's rising. Dogs barked frantically in the distance, moving away from them.</p>
    <p>Luffy looked over at Kid to give a negative when the contents of the water around the taller man caught his attention. Around Kid was a wide fan of accusing color, the man stumbling in mid step as he sought to see what was caught around his calves. By the way Kid squinted, hand in front of him, the sun's glare reflecting atop of the water surface made it difficult for him to see anything. From his position, Luffy watched Kid to see if he recognized what had just wrapped around his leg.</p>
    <p>From his position, Luffy could see the debris clearly – like someone had colored it with brilliant high definition color. But the water was pure black, as if gallons upon gallons of oil left it with nothing but a shimmer caused by movement. He settled firmly upon the fence, looking out over the rising sea.</p>
    <p>"Hey, Kid?"</p>
    <p>"<em>What</em>?"</p>
    <p>"Climb up onto this fence with me."</p>
    <p>Uncertain why the change in tone, Kid made his way over. The water pressure pushed against him, building up around his thighs – the longer they stayed here, the closer they were to swimming. His pants were soaked, and he colored the air with curses as he reached the fence.</p>
    <p>"We're going to have to call the helicopter over if we don't get out of here," Kid muttered, easily climbing atop of the fence and finding his ankle weighted by something that slapped the wire. He paused as Luffy stared down at his boots with what could only be considered a shocked expression, then lifted his foot out to remove the weighted object.</p>
    <p>Catching sight of the telltale pink coils of intestines hanging there made Kid think he'd accidentally stepped in fish guts. Or <em>whale</em> guts. Or a shark's – blood stained his pants. He kicked his boot to dislodge the alarming object, finding that it was still attached to something jerking about in the water below. From this point high above, he could see that there was a body floating underneath the surface, stiff arms breaking the swirl of water. He shrilled with a shriek so noisy that Luffy jerked in place.</p>
    <p>"That's not him, is it?" Kid cried, kicking wildly. "It's all over me! It's all over my goddamn leg!"</p>
    <p>"That's not him," Luffy confirmed, staring down at the face that was barely visible. "That's not him, that's…that's one of the guys from the restaurant."</p>
    <p>"<em>You sure</em>?"</p>
    <p>"The one that stabbed Law with the cigarette."</p>
    <p>Kid clutched the fence with both hands, breathing unevenly. "I knew it. He went and murdered everyone!"</p>
    <p>Luffy looked at him with doubt, then watched as the black water continued to build around Garp's house, taking the body with it. The water rippled red with blood so brilliant and thick that it was almost like seeing oil. Kid watched this as well, his expression paling significantly. He ended up looking at the sky, blood rushing from his face. Luffy sneaked a glance at him, uncertain if the bigger man were going to faint.</p>
    <p>"You okay?"</p>
    <p>"Idiot, I've watched <em>Faces of Death</em> first as a dare," Kid muttered, voice deliberately forced from his throat, "<em>then</em> it was a choice. Stuff like this doesn't faze me any."</p>
    <p>Luffy looked at him with doubt, but then caught sight of the canoe drifting their way. He nudged Kid's leg with one foot. "There. Let's use that. That guy came from the restaurant, Kid. Let's go and make sure Law isn't there."</p>
    <p>: :</p>
    <p>By the time the pair made it over to the restaurant within the center of town, sea gulls were plucking at fish that were taking to the surface with splashes of their tails. Debris plowed through open areas, carried by currents created by the terrain. A dog barked frantically from someone's exposed rooftop. In the distance, a man screamed for help. The helicopter had moved on to the other side of town, both of them hoping that it would find the screamer in time. Both of them were positive that it wasn't Law.</p>
    <p>The restaurant was covered with water. They could only tell it was there by the flagpole nearby, which rippled with movement, flag of the country and the restaurant fluttering in the light breeze. Both men were using broken branches to push through the water as paddles, and both of them were keeping their eyes averted up, not wanting to see anything as terrible as what they'd already seen. Neither of them could talk about it.</p>
    <p>"If he's in there," Kid said slowly, tone full of doubt, "then he's dead."</p>
    <p>"He's not in there," Luffy denied, shaking his head. "Because he was scared of water."</p>
    <p>Kid had to agree with him. "Kinda like a foretelling. Foreshadowing. <em>Something</em>."</p>
    <p>"Like a psychic."</p>
    <p>"Yeah."</p>
    <p>Both of them drifted to where Luffy could see something against the flagpole. As they grew closer, Kid scanning the skies for the helicopter, Luffy could see the shape of a man caught on the pole. He didn't want to see anymore, sure it would be someone he'd know, or someone massacred by sharks – he wasn't sure if sharks were even native to the area – but it was sure it was going to be a terrible discovery. Lips between his teeth, he reached out to catch the flagpole, the metal freezing in his grasp. He used his makeshift paddle to prod at the jacket, which looked wholly familiar.</p>
    <p>Kid caught sight of it as well, sure they'd just found their missing companion. The ugly green/grey combination of material was the very same jacket Law had worn when they were thrown overboard. There was an arm hooked around the pole. He could see a pale hand shimmering just beneath the surface of the water. He dreaded seeing the actual body, feeling guilty that they'd just left Law behind.</p>
    <p>Before he could say anything, Luffy pushed the edge of his branch against the body, denting the material of the jacket.</p>
    <p>Right before their eyes the shape disappeared, leaving the jacket as a flat, floating mass atop of the water. Luffy plucked it out with the branch, water drizzling down onto the surface noisily. <em>It was Law's jacket</em>, Kid realized, seeing his last name written on the collar. Luffy stared at it with fascination, then down at the water before looking at Kid.</p>
    <p>"There was someone in there," he said as way of confirmation. Kid nodded once, unsure of what to tell him. Both of them had clearly seen the body. Luffy once again looked at the coat, settling it at the edge of the canoe. Then he shifted to look into the water – it reflected only the glare of the sun, refusing him any sight of the building below. Kid looked around them with an unsure expression, hearing the dog bark frantically.</p>
    <p>It suddenly stopped with a heart wrenching squeal, the splash of sound signaling something ominous. Both of them waited to hear the animal again, but the silence was immense. Sea gulls squealed and birds fluttered from tree to tree – something sounded in the distance, the rumble causing the very water to ripple. There was something unsettling in the water – something building with a tension so thick that both of them were left on edge.</p>
    <p>"I want to get to dry land," Kid decided, slipping his branch into the water and pushing away from the flagpole. "I want to evacuate. That guy is on his own."</p>
    <p>Luffy continued to watch the water, feeling that Kid was right but every instinct of his was crying out for something sooner. He looked over to catch sight of the local combination high school/elementary school nearby, the rooftop accessible from the level of water. He pointed towards it. "Let's go over there, then. I think we should get off from this water now."</p>
    <p>"Not to cause any panic," Kid said, hastily helping him paddle as he looked off to their left, "but there's something over there."</p>
    <p>Luffy looked over. Kid was right – the water moved with something massive underneath, causing water to swirl around it before disappearing completely beneath the surface. Without any sign of a fin or back or tail, Luffy wasn't sure what he'd seen – he just knew they needed to get away from it.</p>
    <p>Both of them splashed hastily, every instinct of theirs ringing. Their makeshift paddles caught onto something that caused their arms to stretch, losing contact as the branches disappeared beneath the surface with sharp jerks that cut into their hands. Their canoe lifted and fell with a rocking movement as whatever it was passed underneath them. Both of them quickly righted the canoe with startled noises, looking around them with alarm. The water suddenly rumbled with a noise so loud that it sounded like thunder in the distance. The surface rippled with the effect, splashing noisily against the sides of their canoe.</p>
    <p>"Okay, I'm getting nervous!" Kid stuttered, unable to imagine what sort of animal had that effect. Luffy was wide eyed and silent, clutching the edges of the canoe with white knuckled hands. He felt helpless out in the water, unable to see or do much of anything – acknowledging belatedly that he was not a good swimmer.</p>
    <p>Kid glanced at him, plunging an arm into the water. "Row! Paddle! Get us moving before whatever it is can get it!"</p>
    <p>Both of them sliced through the water with their arms, their canoe drifting slowly towards the direction of the school. A power pole vibrated with impact, lines dancing dangerously over the surface. Water shifted as whatever it was turned to coast back towards them. By the time they were aligned with the school rooftop, the surface began to break, the predatory <em>thing</em> seconds from revealing itself before disappearing completely once more, denying them a glimpse. Another rumble of noise caused the water to shudder, and both men scrambled up and over the edge of the roof with panic filled haste.</p>
    <p>Turning around in hopes of getting a glimpse of it, they watched as the canoe disappeared down into the water with a brilliant splash, bubbles building and popping against the school's rooftop. It was too dark for either of them to see what it was, both of them scanning the surface, waiting for clues. The uneasy silence left behind allowed both of them to hear their hearts race. Kid realized he hadn't heard the helicopter in some time.</p>
    <p>He scanned the skies for any sign of it while Luffy stood and looked down at the waters slowly rising towards them. He looked out to the horizon, seeing that the storm was still too far away to allow for any types of thunder. Something told him to move – he pushed away from the edge without knowing why he had to.</p>
    <p>Kid exhaled uneasily as he scanned the rooftop. All around them were buildings nearly all submerged, with long stretches of water between them. Debris floated at the surface, unidentifiable – in the distance, he could see his truck abandoned alongside the road out of town – there were evacuees standing outside their vehicles. He swallowed tightly as he looked to Luffy.</p>
    <p>The teen was coming to the same conclusion as he was. Both of them stood there in uncertain silence, the weight of their decision dawning on them.</p>
    <p>Before either of them could say anything, a clicking noise close by caught their attention. It moved rapidly, echoed by another in the distance. The sea gulls fluttered high, as if escaping danger. Luffy felt his skin ripple with tension, fists bunching up as Kid furrowed his brow, wondering what type of sea creature made that sound.</p>
    <p>The clicking noises coasted over the sound of the water – both of them were quite certain that it was talking amongst each other. A loud splash caught their attention to the left – a man cried out in horror. Both of them whirled, catching sight of an older man pulling himself from the fire escape across from them onto the rooftop of an office building with insurance signs posted near the third floor. It was the tallest building in town – Kid had paid his car insurance there just a week ago. The building inside was old and smelled of mold, with new floors – the employees working there had relatives that had lived to see the building erected in the first place.</p>
    <p>"It's one of those old guys," Kid realized, Luffy crossing the rooftop of the school to get closer to the man.</p>
    <p><em>It was Charlie</em>, Kid saw, but Charlie's clothes were stained red. His skin was ghostly pale, and his entire body shook as he stared down at the rising waters below. He caught sight of the pair on the school rooftop and jerked his head up, looking as if he'd seen a ghost.</p>
    <p>"<em>I remember</em>!" he called out, voice shaky as it carried over the water. It seemed to carry with weight over the distance between them. "I remember that day clearly – there's no way I'd forget!"</p>
    <p>"What are you talking about, old guy?" Luffy called back, perched at the edge of the roof. "Swim over here, we'll help you out!"</p>
    <p>"Zeff tried to stop us," Charlie continued, either ignoring Luffy or desperate to be heard, "but none of us – we couldn't think for ourselves. All we knew was that this…this <em>thing</em>, this – he was a man, at the time, he was a <em>man</em>laying with another man and we'd only wanted to teach him a lesson! We didn't know it was a – one of them! We were stupid, but none of it could be taken back – now it wants revenge! That's what this is about, it's of revenge!"</p>
    <p>Kid and Luffy stared back at him with confusion, uncertain what to make of the tale. Charlie continued scanning the waters, keeping his distance from the roof's edge.</p>
    <p>Then he looked back at them, noticably looking around them. His expression reflected some confusion. "Weren't there three of you?"</p>
    <p>"Our buddy's not with you?" Luffy asked.</p>
    <p>Charlie tightened his jaw. The waters between them rippled suddenly, vibrating with a noise that came from deep below. The older man's expression looked terrified as he propelled himself further away from the edge. He tripped over his own feet, out of sight from the pair for a brief moment.</p>
    <p>Luffy looked to Kid as Kid stretched himself onto his tiptoes in an effort to keep an eye on the man. The sudden silence was immense, the sound of traffic in the distance was the only true sound of humans in the area.</p>
    <p>"I've no idea what that guy's rambling about," Kid told Luffy. "Might be part of the stuff Garp dealt with that day. Said they thought some guy was fag, then turns out to be a fucking <em>mermaid</em>…"</p>
    <p>Luffy furrowed his forehead with intense thought. He looked uncomfortable. "I don't remember Ariel having any sort of lesbian activities."</p>
    <p>Kid gave Luffy a hard stare, resettling his weight on his feet. "Are you fucking serious right now?"</p>
    <p>"You think that's what's in the water, Kid? Mermaids? Coming after everyone?"</p>
    <p>Kid didn't want to think of it. He actually wasn't sure what to think. He looked across them to the building Charlie had retreated to, unable to see the man anymore. He noticed the water steadily rising to the school roof's edge. "We're going to have to go over there," he said tightly. "If we don't want that thing grabbing us, we have to swim quick."</p>
    <p>"I don't know," Luffy said skeptically, looking at the water, "That thing grabbed me fast that one time. I'm pretty sure it's going to grab me again."</p>
    <p>"If we jump as far as we can and climb fast – look, we can climb that building from the side where he did," Kid pointed out, gesturing at the fire escape he figured Charlie had used to get to the roof.</p>
    <p>Luffy exhaled shakily. It was frightening how they could not see past the darkness of the surface to see below – knowing that the thing that took their canoe was only waiting for them. He swallowed noisily. "Let's do it."</p>
    <p>Both of them judged the distance, struggling to ignore their own rising anxiety. The sun's glare reflected off the water, making it difficult to see clearly – but Luffy was certain he would make it. He didn't want to look like a wuss – he threw himself into the water with a wide jump, Kid following shortly after. The cold was a shock to the system – enveloping them both with such an intense force that air escaped their lungs in involuntary shouts. Their muscles locked up almost immediately, but began to loosen as they both plowed forward with wide swings of the arms and strong kick of their feet.</p>
    <p>Both of them kept their head above water, tasting it as it forced its way into their mouths and noses. It caused Luffy to choke, eyes watering as he swung his arms furiously, reaching out for the metal railing that was within reach. The water vibrated with a force so strong that he felt it rattle his limbs. It gave them both the push needed to yank themselves out of the water as one, throwing themselves over the railing with desperate force.</p>
    <p>Water broke behind them, splashing them in various direction. The air rattled with a deathly scream similar to that of a man caught in his death throes – both of them had flung themselves in such a way into the fire escape that they had to scramble to turn just to see what it was.</p>
    <p>Clicking noises erupted suddenly, fish tails splashing the surface.</p>
    <p>"Those are some big fish," Kid stated, rubbing at his eyes. Something rattled the fire escape from the water below, metal vibrating with force so strong that both of them scrambled to search for something sturdy. Nearly as one, both of them scrambled up and over onto the rooftop.</p>
    <p>"It's a whale," Luffy decided. "Killer whales."</p>
    <p>"Killer <em>something</em>," Kid agreed. He noticed with some bewilderment that the door to the rooftop was open – thinking that Charlie would run into the submerged building made absolutely no sense. He walked over to it, every step heavy with uncertainty. Luffy followed, adjusting his backpack with clumsy action. His teeth chattered noisily as he shivered.</p>
    <p>Screams erupted suddenly, both of them startling at the sound of it. The mixture of men and women screaming out in horror caused both of them to whirl around, looking for the source of it. Gunshots rang out rapidly, causing them both to duck in reaction. Kid located the direction of the sounds, moving towards their left to peer over the rooftop edge. He saw a group in a rescue boat focused on something away from them, but their boat was being forcefully tipped towards the water. People were scrambling to stay atop of it, life jackets in place.</p>
    <p>Luffy joined him, uncertain of what he was seeing.</p>
    <p>The boat was pulled underneath the water with such violence those holding tightly were drawn in after it. The fact that the forty foot craft could disappear that easily, handled like a toy, caused both of them to react with stunned expressions. People popped up through the surface with frantic cries, splashing fiercely for something to hold onto.</p>
    <p>Despite their bright life jackets, one by one, they disappeared just as quickly. The sudden silence was immense.</p>
    <p>Luffy gulped noisily while Kid looked down the length of the building, trying to judge the amount of time they had.</p>
    <p>It wasn't very much.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>SIX::</strong>
</p><p>Law strode upstairs, feeling agitation racing through him with a hot rush. He felt bloodless and apprehensive, but he had to find a way to put a stop to this. He headed directly for the kitchen then opened drawers with hands that shook heavily. Once he found the knives, he stared down at the grouping with some frozen fear. But he could hear the sound of sirens outside, the rush of water rising around the house. He thought about how relieved he felt with Luffy and Kid being gone. None of them could stop him.</p><p>If the ghost just wanted his heart back, Law was going to give it to him.</p><p><em>That'll settle my debts</em>, he thought hysterically, thinking of the bills that chased him. He pulled out a knife, examining the length. It needed to be sharpened.</p><p>"Hell," he muttered, scattering various knives around as he searched for the sharpener.</p><p>He thought of his family, and thought of the scene Kid would return to. He did feel a little bad for it, but the pain that strummed all throughout him felt worse. He did not want to feel this responsibility, anymore. He found the hand sharpener – angrily pulled the knife through it several times. It wasn't with the surgical strength and dexterity that he needed, but damn – he was going to cut his own heart out, so what did that matter?</p><p>'<em>Here</em>.'</p><p>It was a trembling mass of what looked like gel – quivering in the early morning sun. He looked upon the hand that held it, unsure of what it was. But he took it gently upon the insistent gesture.</p><p>'<em>What is this</em>?'</p><p>Twinkling eyes looked upon him with trust and devotion. '<em>I'm giving this to you because I know you'll treat it well</em>.'</p><p>'<em>I'd only cut the net</em>.'</p><p>'<em>It was enough for me to decide</em>.'</p><p>'<em>You fish people are very…simple</em>.'</p><p>'<em>A simple act of kindness can be remembered forever</em>!'</p><p>His fingers were forcefully closed over it. He was still so unsure of what he was agreeing to – but it felt warm and alive against his palm, quivering with such excitement that matched his own racing heart. In the distance, just above the sound of the surf, someone laughed heartily. A sailor from a nearby boat, Law presumed.</p><p>Law paused in mid-motion. He gently set the knife aside, bracing against the counter with hands that refused to stop trembling. He thought of the shadows in the water, the hands that pulled Luffy from the surface. If this wasn't his heart, he reasoned, and he could feel another person's pain…maybe he could remember another person's memories.</p><p>He thought of all the times when he'd stared down into the water depths, imagining the quiet, murky bottoms of the sea floor. He thought of how difficult it was to concentrate in quiet offices with loud voices – how city life suffocated him slowly. How human beings evolved eventually to be the chaos that they were, today. How technology changed around him and how often he flitted from place to place, looking for somewhere that <em>fit</em>.</p><p>The shadows of the water deepened, turning into caves that were only accessed by feel – the clicking noises as they communicated with each other. The image of those with nightmarish faces and wide, dark lips – how none of them could express emotions as easily as humans. Their bulging eyes rolling about, more interested in the world above rather than the dark, dreary one they were born in. How they called out to humans boating nearby and being disregarded as ocean noise – how they were warned to stay away from them because of their cruelty.</p><p>The creature that loomed to mind was a hulking shadow with eyes that glittered like jewels hit just right by the sun streaming through the water from above.</p><p>The loss of time from being thrown from the boat had been real, Law realized. That instant connection with the water had reconnected this wandering spirit back to its roots, allowed it time to reanimate within him. But it did not explain his own intimate connection with the thing that insisted on him being his lost love. Law was sure that his father had not set foot in this area – they'd grown up in the city, far inland, and his impulse to take on the fishing adventure; that was decided upon a whim.</p><p>Was reincarnation real?</p><p>He thought of returning the bones to sea – surely that would make an impact.</p><p>He abandoned the knives and retrieved the trash bag, ignoring the ghost watching him from the box. Then he left the house with a determined step, heading to the restaurant.</p><p>The water was crawling further into the town – it bunched around the restaurant with swirling fanfare, bringing with it trash and debris. The front doors were locked so Law headed around to the back, the trash bag heavy in his grasp. There were five older men inside, sitting at a table scarred with various memories, and they looked up at him with surprise.</p><p>He tossed the bag atop of the table in front of them, bones rattling and snapping from within.</p><p>"Garp had this in his basement," Law stated evenly, as a few of them pushed away from the table with chairs scraping against the floor. Opening it, he hauled out the torso to expose it to them. Since its discovery and mistreatment by their hands, the skeleton was damaged, fragments flying out over the table and floor. "The skeleton of the thing you guys murdered all those years ago."</p><p>"What are you doing with those? Are you <em>crazy</em>?" Charlie exclaimed.</p><p>"Garp had this thing in his home the entire time?" Vinton cried.</p><p>"Do away with it!" Carne hissed, kicking the table away from him.</p><p>"That's why the sea has come in," another man, Patty, snarled. "Because now it knows he's still here!"</p><p>"From the sounds of it, you all are well aware of what dangers it possesses, so why don't you tell me about it?" Law asked, shaking the bag to make sure all of it was within their sight. Bones shattered as they broke and crumbled over the table and floor, the skull itself bouncing once before rolling underneath what looked like a sink. "If we just give them back, the sea should recede, right?"</p><p>"If this thing made a promise," Carne said slowly, using a chair to nudge pieces of the bones away from him, "and didn't fulfill its end, then the sea will make a determination. A final judgement for itself."</p><p>"It spoke to me," Law insisted, "and it sounded like it had promised to give lives in return for granting its wish. Is this why it was murdered?"</p><p>None of them said anything in response, looking at him with stubborn action. Law found it frustrating that these men would have everything to do with dooming an entire populace and not give their reasons.</p><p>He thrust the empty bag aside. "Then you're a part of it, too. Your guilt in the matter is just as strong."</p><p>Patty's wrinkled brow furrowed thoughtfully as he stared at Law. Then he pointed an accusing finger. "I've seen you, before."</p><p>"Yeah, I've been living here for nearly a month – "</p><p>"You were there <em>back then</em>. You ate with them."</p><p>"It might've been a relative - !"</p><p>"<em>You</em> were the one to come in with them that day," Carne realized, eyes widening behind his glasses. "You were one of those men that saw it first."</p><p>"You paid old Timmy ten bucks to have a lighter engraved with a mermaid," Patty insisted with the same tone as the others looked at Law with newfound horror, "and said it was a birthday gift for a friend! <em>You</em> were the one! You lived back then, as well! Are you a ghost?"</p><p>Impatiently, Law glanced around him. Once he spied a knife hanging from the magnetic strip nearby, he snatched one and held his arm out. Slashing up against his forearm, he showed them the wound as it bled freely. </p><p>"Do ghosts <em>bleed</em>?" he asked, their eyes moving from that to his face, growing uncertain. Wincing, Law then snatched up some paper towels, pressing it up against the wound.</p><p>Water spilled in through the doorway, swirling over the concrete floor. Their attention diverted to that, the group of men began moving restlessly. Bones were carried atop of the floor – in the distance, they could hear the sounds of traffic moving. There were voices of people calling out to each other on routes away from the town.</p><p>But a rumble caused the glass windows of the kitchen to vibrate, sea gulls shrieking out suddenly. Law watched as their faces paled significantly. Water gushed in through the doorway with a sense of renewed vigor, and he quickly tied a cloth dishrag around the stained paper towels around his arm. He watched the men hastily gather up the bones, shoving them into the bag. The skull was found and shoved in with some moment fanfare. Charlie clutched the bag tightly, looking to the others with a frightful expression, but none of them wanted to touch it any more than that.</p><p>Resolute, Charlie tied the bag shut and knotted it for assurance.</p><p>"Zeff would've known what to do," Carne said with heavy reluctance, watching as water swirled around his feet.</p><p>The name allowed Law to see an older man with an outrageous mustache. "Where is he?" he asked, feeling uncertain in even asking that.</p><p>"He's dead," Patty snapped at him. But his expression fell heavy with shame. "Had a heart attack trying to…to interfere."</p><p>"He would've told us to negotiate with it," Vinton murmured. "He was more familiar with the sea than any of us. Like he came from it himself."</p><p>"Then where did you bury him?" Law asked. "If I can see this thing's ghost, then maybe I can talk to it."</p><p>All five of them gave him incredulous looks then laughed uproariously, much to his outrage.</p><p>"This guy thinks he can talk to the dead!"</p><p>"Gone crazy, he has!"</p><p>"You can't talk to the dead, <em>idiot</em>!"</p><p>Unable to waste more time talking to old men that believed in murderous mermaid tales over the concept of talking to ghosts, Law shook his head. He turned and left through the doorway, thinking he could find the cemetery before the sea water could.</p><p>: :</p><p>By the time he found it, he was wading through water that continued to build around his knees. The headstones of those since passed stood tall over the rising water. Birds fluttered about in a panic – an old truck creaked noisily as it was caught against the cemetery fence line. It made a distracting screeching noise as metal rubbed against metal. There were dogs barking in the distance, and the faint sound of a helicopter moving steadily towards town. Law could see that traffic was at a standstill in the hill above, sure that Luffy and Kid were caught in it.</p><p>He searched the headstones for Zeff's name, wading through the water with trouble. It felt heavy, cold and the sensation of danger had his skin rippling with agitation. He didn't want to be in it any longer, but he figured if he could communicate with Zeff's ghost then he'd find an answer.</p><p>He looked up at the line of cars again – around the hill was a low bridge that stood above the mouth of a river; with the sea rising as it was, he had to presume that traffic was stopped because that bridge was overwhelmed. There was no other way out of the area but that one – all roads merged into that one opening. Common for a small, isolated area like this one. But maybe they were high enough to avoid being swept in –vehicles could be abandoned if they all just trekked to higher ground. The sea couldn't rise up that high along the mountain.</p><p>He caught sight of the unusual name towards the back – the cemetery was located upon a hill that overlooked the waters, allowing those that had passed eternal views of the horizon. It was a great location for the dead – so finding Zeff's headstone was a relief. Something splashed noisily off to Law's left, forcing him to look over. He assumed that it was only because the sea was rising up against the metal fence, trapping debris against it. He looked at the headstone again, heart racing against his chest.</p><p>"What do I do?" he asked the headstone, seeing that this old man had been alive since the town's establishment. It was a simple design with just the man's name and birth dates – the date of death hadn't been added, which made it feel like the man was still alive.</p><p>"I brought the bones out, I have his heart, I made those guys admit to what they've done," Law stated slowly, as if talking to someone that wasn't capable of understanding the language, "so <em>now</em> what do I do?"</p><p>Water swirled around him, building around his thighs – he was a tall man, but the sea made him feel so small. Kelp caught around his ankles, and he lifted his feet to dislodge it. Fish fluttered by, surprising him. Trash rolled helplessly with the building force, a beer can knocking against a nearby headstone. Agitation began to rise in Law because a feeling told him that this water was deep enough to allow something bigger than fish to swim freely amongst the debris.</p><p>The human side of him imagined sharks, sea trash, prehistoric creatures not yet identified by modern scientists – another side was well aware that mer-people were capable of finding him and dragging him under. The shadows that he'd seen in the sea previously. The thought caused him dread.</p><p>The silence he heard was overwhelming. Law was well aware that this "crazy idea" was nothing more than <em>crazy</em>but with everything happening all around him, it was the least crazy thing in the chaos. Never had he imagined that he'd be involved with the concept of mer-people, much less murderous ones wanting revenge.</p><p>He inhaled deeply to exhale as hard. Maybe there was nothing that could be done but allow this sea god or witch or force just do whatever needed to be done.</p><p>From the corner of his eye, he saw a few cemetery decorations topple and fall, splashing into the water with force. Something rattled up against the truck stuck against the fence – right before his eyes, the back of the vehicle lifted up from the fence and came back down with a heavy splash, carried away by the force of the sea. Whatever had lifted it remained out of sight. Law turned away from Zeff's grave and began moving for the fence. He caught sight of what looked like a motorboat caught against a light pole and headed towards that.</p><p>: :</p><p>He maneuvered the boat back to the restaurant. The back door remained open but it was heavily flooded. Water was rising steadily to the top of the building, the windows had shattered under the weight of water, and Law turned the motor off to consider his next course of action. He was sure the men had abandoned it since he'd left it the first time, and looked around himself, wondering where they could have gone. He was certain they were still in town – whether to die or confront the thing that was approaching. He couldn't describe what he'd <em>felt</em> of the underwater beast; just that it was a massive creature with eyes that dictated merfolk.</p><p>He heard the first beginning strands of the song he'd been hearing – it was a muffled sound coming from the restaurant. He pictured the jukebox standing in the corner that hadn't been used in what seemed like decades – collecting dust but there for the appeal of the restaurant's ambiance. The woman's voice became muffled then died away slowly.</p><p>He heard clicking sounds atop of the water, head jerking about as he realized he'd heard them before. It was the language of the shapes underwater, communicating with each other. Without words, it was hard to describe what was being said but he could <em>feel</em> it. He touched his chest, considering the weight of his heart. <em>Hearts</em>, he realized.</p><p>'There is one outside.'</p><p>'They are moving away.'</p><p>'Soon.'</p><p>All of it was disjointed, without any true direction. Much like broken sentences. Law furrowed his brow, glass shattering in the distance. He heard a dog bark frantically, the click of toenails upon metal and looked over to see a shaggy breed climb to the top of a house to escape the water. He considered a hasty rescue but what to do with it after? He flipped on the motor and guided the boat towards center of town.</p><p>It was deeper here, building tops pushing through the water like ruins. He caught sight of the tallest building standing proudly ahead – he remembered Kid had to go there to pay for his vehicle insurance. He remembered that it proudly boasted of being the oldest structure in town. A flash of movement in the side windows motivating him to venture closer.</p><p>The dark water swirling around him had the ominous air of hiding something greater within its depths. It allowed no visual give to see no deeper than surface level – the sun glare reflecting off of it was blinding and dangerous. He could only judge with the way the water covered town just how deep it was. Powerlines were in threat of electrocuting anything caught within if they fell. Street lights sputtered. Law maneuvered the boat close to the building, up to the second story window. Peering within, he saw the main stairway, concrete walls preventing him from seeing anything further than the spiral staircase. He knew he'd seen someone inside, but he wondered why it mattered. Maybe it was someone trying to escape the rising sea.</p><p>He turned to push the boat away from the building when movement in the window caught his eye. He realized Sanji was standing there inside, looking at him with regret. It startled Law to see him, sure the ghost had been left behind at Garp's. There were clicking noises erupting from somewhere behind him, so Law turned to scan the water. The surface broke like massive fish were taking to the air, splashing him with cold water.</p><p>'I see him.'</p><p>'He is here.'</p><p>Law could <em>hear</em> these responses in his heart. They were looking for the ghost? He was quite sure he'd left the bones in the restaurant for the men to contemplate. Unless they'd retreated here, for some reason. He looked back at the window in time to see Sanji walking down the stairway – a flit of black and blue.</p><p>Cursing his want to investigate, Law reluctantly searched for something to tie the boat to for later retreat. He discovered that the window would open, unlatched from the inside. It creaked noisily as he coaxed it out, then had to do some awkward slithering just to get in.</p><p>The inside of the building was dry, without threat of being swamped. But on the first floor where the stairway spilled out into a wide, open floor with booths open for tourist interests and a gift shop, the windows creaked ominously against the weight of the water that pressed up against the glass. The lights of the building were out, but there was a soft glow from the water that gave it an ethereal sight. Law could hear movement coming from somewhere and followed those noises with a tight expression. His boots scuffed noisily against the floor, causing him to wince.</p><p>He looked up at the windows as a crack rang out – his blood went cold because he was sure water would come crashing in but he realized he was looking at the full apparition of the ghost. Sanji looked very much alive in this soft lighting, hands tucked in his black jacket as he watched Law. Behind him, shadowy forms darted about in the water – depicted as black masses. The sound of clicking was loud from where Law stood, and he looked at Sanji with uncertainty.</p><p>There was the sound of a man muttering in the far corner of the area, causing Law to look away from the ghost to see Patty and Vinton looking up at the picture on the walls. He wondered what was so interesting about those pictures to have them potentially endanger themselves in a building threatening to be destroyed by the rising water outside. He glanced at Sanji once more – it was discomforting how <em>alive</em> he looked; Law could hear him breathing, could hear the rustle of his clothes as his hands fiddled with something metallic in his pocket, could smell cigarette smoke lingering about him.</p><p>Sanji used his head to nod towards the men – for Law to investigate. Incredulous, Law turned away from him and walked over. He kept glancing over his shoulder to see if the ghost would disappear but Sanji just stood there without any change of expression. Vinton saw Law and whirled around quickly with a low gasp.</p><p>He pointed vehemently at the wall for Law to look. In one of the old photographs, framed by a wooden design with a notation at the bottom, were a group of fishermen. Alarmingly, one of those men looked a lot like Law. Law stared at it in disbelief – he didn't recognize the man as one of his relatives, or even had any memory of the moment. But his features were quite obvious amongst the stoic faces of those around him.</p><p>"That's <em>you</em>," Vinton insisted, jabbing at the photograph. "<em>You</em> were part of them!"</p><p>Law shook his head, Patty looking to him with renewed fear. "Of course not. It's impossible."</p><p>"We never did see you after," Patty muttered. "You were a regular when Zeff – "</p><p>"I'm telling you, I don't know how to explain this, but that's <em>not me</em> – "</p><p>"But you were one of them who'd seen it first!" Vinton said on a hiss. "You were the one to cut it down! They said so!"</p><p>Law was sure there was a more logical explanation to these things, but he couldn't think of anything. Especially when he could see those memories himself. It felt like guilt crossing over his face, but he didn't understand why.</p><p>"It's a coincidence," he said, looking at the man that looked exactly like him. It was uncanny – right down to the lazy way his shoulders sloped, the eyebags he currently wore. Even the way the man wore his beanie was similar to the way he wore his. He shook his head in disbelief. Exhaling heavily, he added, "I don't believe in things like reincarnation."</p><p>"Maybe you were a part of this, too," Vinton accused him. And because Law could see himself escaping, could feel the wretched feelings coasting through him after seeing the vicious scene, he felt that perhaps this was true.</p><p>Patty looked at Law suspiciously – as an old man, he was withered and stooped with age. Age spots decorated his forehead and hands, which seemed twisted with arthritis. One eye seemed more milky than the other – his teeth had been replaced with dentures that looked yellowed and loose. His clothing seemed to swamp him, but was taken care of meticulously. Looking at him, Law saw him, for a moment, as a tall, burly man with dark skin and earrings. He also saw his strong hands holding tightly onto another's, refusing any give as he helped the others drag Sanji down onto the beach. He glanced back at the ghost who continued to stand without change in expression – vaguely illuminated by the ghostly light behind him.</p><p>Something alerted Vinton and Patty to Sanji's presence – their heads whipped about at dangerous speeds and caught sight of him.</p><p>At once, Patty grabbed Law by his jacket, nearly jerking him off his feet. "You are <em>part</em> of this! You gave away his location to the sea and now you've doomed us all to its curse!"</p><p>Law jerked away, putting space between them. He smoothed out his clothing. "It's not much as a curse than a retribution for a crime, right? All of you admitted to starting this thing based on backwards homophobia – <em>then</em> it turned into something different."</p><p>Both of them were quiet for a few moments, their agitated breath the only sound in the building. But they looked once more at the ghost that said nothing to them.</p><p>"His bones must be here, then," Law stated, furrowing his brow. "What are you guys doing here with it?"</p><p>"Charlie thought that if he could drop them from the highest point, we could see whatever it was that wants them," Vinton mumbled sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of his head. He pointed at the ceiling. "He's up there."</p><p>Glass snapped noisily, interrupting the terse moment. From the windows nearby, long shadows drifted by. The sight of fish-like tails fluttering through the ghostly light beyond the glass held their attention.</p><p>A set of clawed hands clapped against the window nearest Vinton, who jerked backwards with a startled yell. One of Patty's hands went to his chest as he froze in place, staring up at the hands that pressed against the glass. Moments later, all of them were treated to the sight of the ghastly underwater creature that pressed its face up against the window, fish-like eyes locked upon them. Seeing one of them so close and so vividly caused Law frightened alarm – it was much different from the thing he saw in his "memories", so obviously real that his thoughts slammed to a stop. Dark, fish-like lips opened, clicking noises ringing out against the glass.</p><p>Another one of the creatures pressed up against the glass, tail fluttering in the water to allow it an upright position.</p><p>'I see him.'</p><p>'He is there.'</p><p>At the scuff of sound behind them, Law turned to see Sanji walking away. A sudden sense of urgency hit Law, and he began moving after him. The two older men were stunned into frozen states, staring up at the creatures that pressed against the glass. It crackled noisily, cracks tearing through the panes.</p><p>'He is getting away.'</p><p>Law was on the stairs when the first floor windows finally shattered, water spilling into the building. He hastened his step, taking them two at a time while clutching the railing. Once he reached the window he'd come in from, hearing the men shout from the floor below as water overtook them, he pulled himself out into the open, locating his motorboat. He made to reach for it when hands darted out from the water below, nearly wrapping around his wrist. He yanked himself back into the building with a shout of terror, falling backwards.</p><p>Clicking noises erupted in the open air as a helicopter flew overhead.</p><p>'It is a bird.'</p><p>'<em>Big</em> bird – catch it!'</p><p>Water splashed noisily against the building as the voices faded. Law looked out cautiously, scanning the black water below. He reached for the boat, pulling it towards him before dropping in. Untying it from the building's proud display sign, he kicked away from the brick wall. He looked back at the window to see if Sanji were in sight, then started the motor to guide it away from the building. Movement to his right allowed him to see Vinton skimming over the waters, gurgling as he struggled.</p><p>It was as if Law were watching a scene from 'Jaws' – the man skirted atop of the water, obviously being held from below. The things holding onto him were just playing with him. For a moment, Law saw the man kick and flail his arms and legs, trying to escape – then he saw Vinton's legs moving in one direction while his upper half went in the other. He didn't stop gurgling until his upper half disappeared underneath the water, the surface bubbling for a few moments before retaining a smooth, glasslike exterior.</p><p>He swallowed tightly as he maneuvered the boat away from the building.</p><p>: :</p><p>Nearing the hill towards Garp's, the motor caught onto something underneath the water and died with a violent grinding. Law sat in the boat with a heavy expression, listening to the soft bubble of the sea. Birds fluttered overhead noisily. The dog had stopped barking. He thought about the picture he'd seen on the wall and wondered how it was possible. He stared up at the sun that glittered beyond the branches overhead, trying to piece together the mystery. Surely, it was only a doppelganger that had been present at that time; he had no male relatives that looked like him. He was very positive of his life lived until now – he'd only experienced weird things here.</p><p>The boat drifted aimlessly atop of calm waters. All around him were evidences of houses – a chimney, a flagpole, some light posts. Occasionally, he'd see the peak of a rooftop cutting through the water's surface. Whatever the motor had caught onto to die so suddenly had let go, but he couldn't hear any voices or clicking around him.</p><p>He leveled his gaze across from him, uncertain of what to do. He realized Sanji was sitting across from him, looking into the water with a morose expression. Law caught his breath because he hadn't even sensed him being there – but he supposed that's what ghosts did.</p><p>Something bumped against the boat roughly, causing Law alarm as he reached out and clasped the sides to steady himself. He caught sight of something pushing through the waters below, but it was too deep for Law to identify. Whatever it was was large, causing the boat to spin slightly. The water rumbled noisily, and though it sounded like thunder Law was positive it was not. It sounded like a man's voice, booming through the darkness below.</p><p>He tried to picture the mysterious creature as a half octopus, but without Kid's and Luffy's details, he couldn't do it.</p><p>He looked to Sanji, who watched him silently.</p><p>"Did you lose your voice?" Law demanded of him, needing answers. "What am I supposed to do?"</p><p>Sanji said nothing – he was so solid that he could have been just as alive and human as Law. His eyes were exactly as Law 'remembered' them in his memory – skirting over the surface of the water with a distant expression to his face.</p><p>"They're looking for you," Law said, unable to release the boat's edges just yet, "I could hear them."</p><p>Once again, Sanji looked to him in silence – expression saying nothing. Law thought that he was a marker of some sort – if he had this ghost's heart as his own, maybe that was how the underwater creatures were tracking him. He exhaled slow, looking to the hillside. He heard screams and shouts, gunshots in the distance – but due to his location, he couldn't see anything. The fear and fright in those sounds convinced Law that people were actively dying at some monster's hands.</p><p>The silence that followed was thick and heavy – even the birds were quiet.</p><p>"Why aren't you saying anything now?" Law asked Sanji.</p><p>The boat rocked suddenly, Law tightening his fingers as water splashed him. It was shoved to the right, then yanked to the left, catching against a couple of trees. When it started to tip, he quickly stood in a crouching movement and rocked it back into place. Catching his breath, Law waited for more action and looked to Sanji to see if he'd react. The ghost was gone. Looking into the water, Law saw his own scared reflection in the surface. The bright glare of the sun made it difficult to look any longer, and he blinked rapidly to restore his vision.</p><p>Clawed fingers settled over his, and Law jerked his hands away, standing suddenly to see them rest over the boat's edge. Two more sets of hands clamored to hold onto the craft, and Law abandoned it quickly for some branches overhead. He climbed the tree awkwardly as the boat disappeared suddenly under the surface of the water, bubbles dancing briefly before quietly and eventually disappearing.</p><p>Once settled in the tree, Law looked around himself anxiously. Leaves rustled as he reached for a better grip, bringing himself closer to the trunk of the tree. It rattled suddenly, as if gripped from below – shaken by a giant. He somehow kept his grip.</p><p>Clicking noises reverberated over the water, echoing.</p><p>'I see him!'</p><p>'He is here!'</p><p>Breathing shakily, Law was at a loss as to what to do. He looked down at the water below, seeing dark shapes flit by, the surface disrupted. Glancing around, he desperately searched for some way out of this mess, hearing his own panic build. The tree rattled once more, dropping leaves onto the water below. He noticed the reflection below his perch and looked up to see Sanji sitting casually on the branch above him, watching the water with a sad look to his face.</p><p>Law reached up and rattled the branch the ghost was on. "Quit following me!"</p><p>Sanji's lips tightened but he opened up his jacket, withdrawing a silver cigarette case. He made a shrugging motion that infuriated Law with the casual action. He lit up with the lighter engraved with a mermaid and exhaled smoke Law could smell and taste for himself. He ended up reaching out to see if he could touch the ghost and startled at the very real solidity of the ghost's leg. He could feel the material of his pants, the weight of his limb, the warmth of his skin.</p><p>Sanji kicked his hand off, and Law almost lost his perch, grabbing onto another branch hastily. Incredulous, Law gaped at him as Sanji blew out smoke that wafted away within the cold, breezy air.</p><p>"He's not a benevolent creature," Sanji said slowly, his voice startlingly loud and heavy in the open air. Unlike at Garp's, where his voice had been tinny and soft, a whisper over the radio. "He's just like the sea. Every bit of it."</p><p>"Then <em>what's the point</em>?" Law snarled at him.</p><p>Sanji admired the scenery, taking in the sight of the sea covered town with a sense of awe. After some moments, he looked down at the other man. He finished his cigarette and tossed it into the water. "Maybe I just want to see you suffer as much as you watched mine."</p><p>"<em>I'm not that person</em>! It's impossible!" Law insisted.</p><p>"Then why do you still have my heart?" Sanji asked, elbow on knee.</p><p>Law didn't have an answer for that, scrunching his forehead with thought.</p><p>"It felt good to be in there," Sanji then said, looking at the water. His expression was wistful – even with regret. The surface broke slightly, allowing them to see two faces staring up at them from underneath. Their frightful appearance was something Law had to look away from – he almost wished they had a more human appearance, much like the pictures of modern design. "But none of my regret will take back the choice I made. Much like yours."</p><p>"I didn't do <em>anything</em> - !"</p><p>"<em>Of course you didn't</em>!"</p><p>Law clenched his teeth as Sanji looked at him with so much despair and betrayal that it was difficult forming any kind of coherent thought or words.</p><p>For a moment Sanji was lost in thought, looking at something far away. "I had thought having so many emotions and thoughts would be…beautiful. Because we don't have any. We're <em>simple</em>. But experiencing all that…human horror and treachery…love and peace…in the end it wasn't worth it. I'm stuck between worlds…I can't die as my original form, nor can I as a man. As long as you live…you have my heart."</p><p>Law felt like this made sense – if he had the merman's heart, then perhaps it was to be expected that the choices he'd made back then carried the weight of the ghost's; <em>this is punishment for a crime I'd helped commit</em>, he thought to himself hysterically.</p><p>"Then if I die, you die," Law stated slowly.</p><p>"Maybe," Sanji muttered. "But neither world is one I want."</p><p>'Ugly betrayer,' one of the faces hissed against the water, drawing their attention. 'Live as a man, die as one!'</p><p>'Never to repeat,' the other said, disappearing back into the darkness.</p><p>"But I had to learn the hard way <em>why</em> humans are to be avoided, and this will be a lesson to the others," Sanji murmured bitterly, standing on his branch. His weight caused wood to snap and pop, debris raining down into the water below. Law knew what he was going to do moments before he could do it – he quickly slid out of his jacket as 'the ghost' hopped down onto the branch Law was seated on, snapping it with his added weight. His jacket caught onto another branch and caused him to swing just inches above water, legs slamming up against the trunk of the tree.</p><p>Hands shot out of the water to reach for him, and Law used his jacket as a rope to pull himself out of their grasp, abandoning it to grab onto another branch. He swung from that to another spot around the tree. Sanji was nowhere to be seen, but it was obvious he was doing his ghostly best to feed Law to the creatures below.</p><p>He looked up at the sound of an engine skimming over the water, and gave a relieved shout. Awkwardly, he used his height to push away from the tree's branches, signaling to the single man in a motorboat to come get him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>SEVEN</strong>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p>As the motorboat approached him, Law realized that the man at the outboard engine was one of the cooks from the restaurant. He gave a curse, doubting his rescue once the man approached the tree. After a moment's hesitation, the older man waved at him to jump in.</p><p>He was the waiter that had mentioned the mermaids in the first place – a younger man, Law realized he didn't know his name off hand like he did with the others.</p><p>"I never did get your name," he said slowly as he carefully lowered himself into the motorboat.</p><p>"You wouldn't. It's Dustin, by the way."</p><p><em>He wasn't part of the crime</em>, Law realized, which allowed the man to feel somewhat neutral in things.</p><p>"Them fish people tree you?" Dustin asked lightly but with a heavy expression, glancing around them apprehensively as he drove the boat back towards town. Law hugged himself, the cold nearly unbearable. The sun was finally lowering overhead, but the overcast skies and the natural cold of the area persisted. "Everyone was headed to the Rodney building for some reason – spooked out of their minds after what you did."</p><p>"They <em>should</em> felt guilt," Law muttered, waiting for those things underneath to push and rock at the boat. But they were on a clear trek towards the insurance building that Law abandoned. Apprehensive, he watched as they grew nearer towards it. It looked like there was some activity on the roof, but he couldn't quite see what was up there. "This was their fault."</p><p>"Never did get the full of it," Dustin muttered, giving the building a critical eye. "But old men don't talk about things that make them uncomfortable. Guess that story you been tellin' made everybody snap."</p><p>"It's a true story," Law insisted, shivering. He gave a start once he realized Sanji was sitting behind the man, looking at him from over his shoulder. The moment he processed this, the engine gave a loud noise before dying noisily. Dustin looked back at it with surprise, not seeing the ghost slowly stand from behind him. Seeing that they were close to the building, Law snapped at him, "Don't you dare do anything, you little shit - !"</p><p>The boat rocked violently as Dustin looked at him in surprise, not understanding why he was being addressed like that. Both of them steadied themselves, clicking noises alighting across the shimmering surface of the rising waters.</p><p>'There he is.'</p><p>'Quickly.'</p><p>'Let us take him.'</p><p>Dustin withdrew a handgun and fired repeatedly into the water around their boat, the craft abandoned suddenly. In the silence after, Law wondered if these things could be affected by a human weapon – he couldn't see any resembling blood in the dark water, which was much too murky for him to see anything beyond surface level. There was a sense of unease as he caught his reflection, feeling a responsive sensation of guilt clench at his stomach.</p><p><em>It's not me, it's not</em> my <em>fault</em>, he told himself, trying to ignore the stabbing pain of these foreign feelings. Law looked to the building, judging the distance between them and the visible fire escape. It would be too far to swim without being grabbed from below, so after making sure Sanji was gone, he grabbed one of the paddles.</p><p>"These things are tenacious!" Dustin exclaimed, steadying himself as he grabbed a paddle. "Whatever they are! They got the others right scared, running like a fire lit under their shoes!"</p><p>Law glanced behind his own shoulder, feeling the tightening of his chest as he searched for Sanji. He felt sweat line his brow, questionable thoughts racing through him as he desperately struggled to get the boat close to the building. He felt like he wasn't <em>ready</em> – but he himself couldn't imagine what for. To face the truth? To confess? It felt like there was something shimmering at the surface of his spirit and it definitely didn't feel like something he owned for himself.</p><p><em>It's the other guy</em>, he realized. These were <em>his</em> feelings.</p><p>He grit his teeth, struggling to get himself back. "If you're in there," he said aloud to himself, Dustin looking at him with confusion, "you better figure it out! I'm not dying for your faults!"</p><p>"You okay?" Dustin asked him tentatively.</p><p>"I'm fine! I just have some…things…going on," Law muttered in response, reaching out to grab the fire escape railing. Once he was able, he hauled himself up and over, Dustin following suit clumsily. Law turned to help the older man up after him when the boat rocked up from the water, pale hands and arms visible. Both of them stopped to watch as the creatures pulled the craft into the water with a strange strength that caused them panic. Moments later, the fire escape rattled with such force that Dustin nearly toppled over the railing, his gun falling from his jacket to sink into the water. He cursed noisily as Law grabbed hold of the ladder nearby and started climbing.</p><p>Moments later the fire escape ripped away from the building with a shriek of metal and cracking brick. Dustin was tossed into the water with a surprised shout, Law looking over his shoulder to see that the ladder escaped mishandling because it was separate from the structure. He watched the metal sink as Dustin tread the water helplessly. From his position, Law saw something dark and massive in the water, crumbling the fire escape structure into a ball. His eyes widened with horror, unable to imagine how something that big was lurking underneath the surface without revealing itself. He saw the murky vision of the creature Sanji spoke of, sure that this was it.</p><p>Kid yanked him up as Luffy peered over the edge of the rooftop, shouting down at Dustin. Before the older man could say anything, he was pulled underneath the surface, disappearing in moments. Bubbles popped with some fanfare as the trio settled themselves, waiting for the man to come back up.</p><p>Parts of him did – his head popped up for a moment, revealing human sized bitemarks and spurting blood, torn skin catching the surface of the water. Other pieces popped up around him before the motorboat shot up from the murky darkness, flying at them like a thrown toy. The trio jerked away, scrambling to avoid the water craft as it crashed against the rooftop with noisy action. The metal had been torn asunder, like petals of a flower – seats missing and the motor gone. All around the rim were bite marks. As the three processed the sight of this craft, a rumble filled the air.</p><p>It began with a slow chuckle, then turned into a watery form of heavy laughter. The surface of the black water below began to slosh heavily against the building sides, and sea gulls screamed noisily as they hastily took flight away from their perches. Luffy crawled to his feet and scrambled to look over the edge of the building, watching the water move as that massive thing pushed away from them. The structure itself jostled uneasily, shaking from the base.</p><p>"We're going to die, guys," Luffy decided, feeling nauseous.</p><p>"Oh, wow, thanks for that news flash!" Kid snapped at him before looking at Law. "Where'd you come from?"</p><p>"A tree," Law answered, dusting himself off. He paused in mid-action as he considered the situation, looking around the rooftop for Sanji. "And the brat's right – most likely, we're going to die. Because everywhere I go, that ghost is doing his best to make sure I die."</p><p>"Then, to fix the situation, we must make the ultimate sacrifice," Kid decided as Luffy looked to Law with worry. Kid cracked his knuckles. "I will be the hero and throw your ass overboard."</p><p>"Before you do," Law said, hand up in his direction as he saw the open door, "let's make this clear. They're obviously going for the killers, and I've count down the deaths so far. How many of them were left?"</p><p>"We're not going to throw him over the roof, Kid," Luffy then told the redhead with a scoff. He looked through the debris of the motorboat with consideration, hefting up pieces that looked sharp enough to be a weapon. "It's not his fault."</p><p>"Listen here, <em>kid</em>," Kid scolded him, "in every horror movie we've watched, the most logical things are the most obvious things. And the most obvious thing here is that Law needs to die so <em>we</em> can live."</p><p>"All we need is a big <em>spear</em>," Luffy retorted. He found a shredded piece of metal that had part of the motorboat's hull, testing the weight and piercing strength of the sharpest part. He frowned with some inward conclusion. "That's how Ursula was killed."</p><p>"Well, considering the new information I've found," Law said, turning his back to their discussion and walking to the rooftop door, "it's half and half. I've learned I am actually the recipient of the mermaid's – <em>merman's</em> – heart, and it's…in me. <em>Somehow</em>. I was going to cut it out but I grew interested in the rest of the tale. Hopefully, I can set to rest this entire debacle with some prodding before doing so."</p><p>"You'd <em>die</em> before you could do that," Kid said in a scoffing tone, following after him.</p><p>"<em>Duh</em>."</p><p>"You can't kill yourself over some ghost story!" Luffy exclaimed, hurrying after them as he abandoned his spear. "What kind of bullshit is that?"</p><p>"To sum it up – the merman promised lives in an exchange for life on the surface. He gave someone that looks like me his heart –"</p><p>"Literally?" Kid asked skeptically. "Or metaphorically? Because from the sounds of it, this was a romance gone wrong."</p><p>"Literally."</p><p>"Like, how have you lived so long without knowing you have two hearts?"</p><p>"I'm tired of sharing all the details with you."</p><p>Luffy's face scrunched with concentration. "I think it makes sense. You're a tall guy, so maybe you needed two hearts."</p><p>Kid and Law looked down at him with similar sad expressions before Kid reached out and patted the top of his head with condescending action. Luffy slapped his hand away with a huff.</p><p>With a roll of his eyes, Law continued with, "Because he failed on his end of the promise, the sea wants what was promised to him. Lives."</p><p>Kid and Luffy looked at Law with quiet consideration before they gave each other side-eye. Law realized that this sounded incredibly unrealistic, shuffling with embarrassed action before regaining some dignity in the matter.</p><p>"Don't <em>even</em> give me shit on the matter when both of you have been comparing tactics to a damn Disney movie!"</p><p>"<em>Well</em>, I mean…" Kid trailed off dumbly while Luffy gave a lame shrug.</p><p>Kid gave Law an impatient look, hands in his jacket pockets. "So then we toss in <em>all</em> the remaining murderers."</p><p>Law lifted an eyebrow with doubt. "But would you be comfortable killing or aiding in the killing of another human being?"</p><p>Kid shrugged uneasily while Luffy wore a troubled expression.</p><p>"Besides, by my count, I doubt there are any left. Two of them showed me an older picture of me in this very building – in the process, one of them was torn apart, and I don't doubt that the other was as well when it was flooded. The one that brought me here wasn't a part of it but they showed no hesitation in destroying him. But he'd mentioned beforehand that they'd come here to drop the bones into the water. That leaves two."</p><p>"We saw one of them up here, but it seemed like he went inside," Kid said, looking to the doorway. "So we were going to investigate until we heard you guys coming up."</p><p>"Then let's go find those bones!" Luffy decided headed towards the door.</p><p>As Kid moved to follow him, his larger frame revealed Sanji standing behind him. Law looked at the ghost as the pair left without him for the door nearby.</p><p>"That won't matter," Sanji said slowly. "None of that matters."</p><p>"So, we all die senselessly for something <em>you</em> did," Law returned bitterly.</p><p>Sanji's mouth tightened as Kid looked back at Law impatiently. With the way Kid looked at Law, Law figured he could not see the ghost standing there with him. "I find it satisfactory. An unfair ending similar to mine."</p><p>"Maybe we can reason with the thing – "</p><p>"Reason never worked with humans – what makes you think it will with the sea?"</p><p>Law frowned, but he understood where it was going. "I had <em>nothing</em> to do with that. None of us do."</p><p>Sanji looked right at him, but Law started to understand that the ghost wasn't looking at him – but at someone who felt the uncomfortable weight of shame and guilt under that gaze.</p><p>"What are you doing?" Kid bellowed at Law impatiently. "Let's do this!"</p><p>Law felt a part of himself retreat, like a shadow evading the light. Something that left with the feelings he could feel that weren't his own. At that point, Sanji looked away and faded away just as abruptly. For those few tense moments, Law reflected over the town that had disappeared underneath the sea water.</p><p>'We'll leave,' he heard himself say in a long ago faded memory, 'get away from here before anyone has a chance to question us.'</p><p>At the time, Law could see that the tiny room was spotless – all their belongings were packed in a single suitcase sitting near the door. Sanji had looked at him with concern, dressed for the night shift at the restaurant.</p><p>'Why would they question us?' he asked curiously, face full of naïve curiosity.</p><p>'You can't say <em>anything</em>,' Law insisted, reaching out to cup the man's face between his own weathered hands. 'Say <em>nothing</em> about where you come from or who you're with! Our lives depend on it.'</p><p>'I don't understand,' Sanji had said with confusion.</p><p>'Humans are…unkind to concepts that they don't believe in. One of which includes our…which includes us being together.'</p><p>'Are we bad?'</p><p>'God insists on it.'</p><p>Still confused but understanding that there was a higher power that humans referred to as a guiding force for living, Sanji nodded with a slow gesture.</p><p>Unable to delve into the topic just yet, hearing the sounds of boats moving over the water, Law released him. 'There will be a time to talk about it, but for now, mention nothing about your old life and the one we'll have later. Just continue learning as much as you can.'</p><p>'You'll be back before my shift ends?'</p><p>'The sea is bright and clear, today. I have no doubts.'</p><p>'Don't fall in,' Sanji then said, giving him a worried glance. 'Don't even look when they call your name.'</p><p>'Then you understand – what is here for us on the surface is the same as what it is under the water.'</p><p>'Yes, that makes sense. But now that you have my heart, they can hear you, too.'</p><p>Kid marched over to grab his arm, and Law held up a finger to allow himself a few moments. The memory was gone, and it was frustrating. Kid looked at him suspiciously as Luffy looked over from the doorway, blinking with bewilderment.</p><p>"What are you doing?" Kid asked Law gruffly.</p><p>"Trying to figure out how to get this ghost inside of me to come forward with his crimes," Law muttered with concentration.</p><p>"Well, it looks like you're trying to fart."</p><p>Law looked up at Kid with impatience as Kid looked skeptical of his efforts. Then he had an idea. "We've all watched shark week, right?"</p><p>"I doubt that's a <em>shark</em> in there!"</p><p>"I lost a week when we went under," Law said as Luffy rejoined them, "a week of not knowing a thing! How did I appear to you?"</p><p>Both of them shrugged. "We didn't notice any difference, to be honest," Luffy confessed. "You were the usual."</p><p>"Yeah, so…what's up with that?" Kid asked skeptically.</p><p>"The ghost that infects me must've done so that day," Law said slowly, trying to recall outrageous ghost story plot points to fuel his thinking, "and that's what Sanji sees. He addresses the person who is hiding inside of me."</p><p>"Where are we going with this?" Kid asked him dully as Luffy looked lost, "Because it sounds <em>stupid</em>."</p><p>"The coward watched the crime unfold and yet nobody knows who he is," Law said slowly, feeling that sharp pain once again, making him wince, "this is his crime to help undo."</p><p>"Then how do we <em>make</em> him?" Kid asked on a suffering sigh.</p><p>Luffy punched fist to palm. "Let's beat the ghost out of him, then."</p><p>"Hey, that's a great idea!" Kid exclaimed cheerfully, Law frowning at both of them.</p><p>"I was thinking you both could lower me to the water like bait, and – "</p><p>"Wow, that's a dumb idea!"</p><p>"For someone with a degree, that's all you can come up with?"</p><p>Law sighed heavily, looking to the over casted sky for something of a sign.</p><p>Before anyone could move, the door to the roof slammed shut, the sound reverberating off the stillness around them. Abandoning the idea, the trio headed towards it, Luffy finding that it was locked.</p><p>"One of them is in there," Law decided. He headed to the side of the building where he knew the window was unlocked and looked down. The water level had reached inches below that particular section. "<em>That</em> window is unlocked. That's where I went through earlier."</p><p>"So…we're going to risk our lives to go into a flooded building – I mean, really, what's the plan?" Kid exclaimed, hands to his hair. "What are we doing? All we're doing is standing around talking about ghosts and mermans - !"</p><p>"<em>Men</em>," Luffy stressed impatiently. "<em>Mermen</em>!"</p><p>" – and there's no real idea on what we're doing! Are we going to find this guy with the bag of bones? <em>What</em> are we going to do with it? What are we going to do with this ghost inside of you? What - ?"</p><p>He trailed off as Law jumped over the edge of the roof, causing both him and Luffy to give startled gasps as he splashed down into the water. Law quickly pulled the window out and slithered into the building, leaving them in stunned silence. Mere seconds later the surface broke, mermen looking at the open window with wild clicking noises. Their blank, expressionless faces then turned to look up at the pair of them watching them, splashing about with predatory action before disappearing back beneath the water.</p><p>Kid's face filled with color as his jaw tightened. He removed his jacket as Luffy gave a low exhale.</p><p>"How dare he not answer my serious questions," Kid snarled out before leaping over the edge and following Law's route with near clumsy actions. Luffy gnawed on his fingernails as he watched the water bubble where Kid had dropped, the sounds of his cursing ringing out over the water suddenly. There was a single merman watching him from the water, its blank stare piercing as it watched Luffy attentively. The creature didn't remind him of a glowing, beautiful mer-person as the movie and pictures depicted – it looked more of a nightmarish fish with human characteristics. He wondered how his grandfather could feel any sympathy for something that seemed so sinister – he understood that this Sanji had promised to <em>kill</em> just to be human. Did Garp know that?</p><p>He thought about how the ghost had taken something from him, realizing he hadn't had anything to eat since then. He hadn't even thought of food – there was a strange sort of emptiness in him that made him feel like something was missing. But gave it no other thought.</p><p>Luffy thought about his subpar swimming skills, rocking back and forth against the ledge. With a sound of trepidation, he turned away from the roof top and headed for the locked door. He jerked and pulled on it, grunting before it occurred to him that the hinges were located on the outside. He quickly pulled the pins with considerable effort before the door collapsed awkwardly against the frame.</p><p>As he stepped in, he scoffed. "And they call <em>me</em> dumb!" he muttered, venturing slowly down the stairway.</p><p>: :</p><p>Dripping wet, Law saw that the water level had stopped halfway between the second and first floor. Wiping his face, he wondered how that was possible. He heard voices coming from somewhere close, and ventured towards the closed door nearby. Moments later Kid was pulling himself into the stairway, and Law watched him flop to the floor.</p><p>"Shh!" he hissed at him as Kid cursed up a storm, dripping wet and flinging his hair from his face. Kid scowled at him, but joined him at the doorway. Opening it, both of them wincing at the loud creak that emerged from the hinges, both of them stepped into the main hallway. The voices that Law had heard had ceased upon the sound.</p><p>"There's more than one," Law told Kid as they walked in.</p><p>"What are we doing?" Kid asked impatiently. "Throwing the bones in ourselves?"</p><p>"I don't know," Law confessed with a shrug. Kid scowled at him, but both of them saw light ahead. It was a flickering orange glow, and the closer they grew to it the easier it was to see. They walked in through an open doorway, seeing that Charlie and Carne were hastily flipping through banker boxes that were filled with old newspaper clippings, pictures. They seemed to give the younger set irritated expressions, but Law saw the trash bag of bones sitting on a desk nearby. Kid shut the door softly behind them.</p><p>"The archives of this shitty town?" Kid noticed, looking at the labels on the filing cabinets around them. "What are you looking for?"</p><p>"<em>His</em> name," Carne said, looking directly at Law.</p><p>"You won't find it here," Law assured him, but he was quite sure that it wasn't his intention to say that. He wore a puzzled expression as Kid looked at him sharply. A strange sort of calm settled over the older man as he glanced at fishermen registration records, Carne and Charlie looking at him with distaste.</p><p>"And why is that?"</p><p>Sanji walked out from behind Charlie, giving Law a cross look.</p><p>"Back then, it was easy to slip around unnoticed," Law confirmed, watching as the ghost settled, invisible to the others, off to the side. Kid frowned at him. He looked to the bones nearby, heading straight for them. Charlie abandoned his box and snatched them away from his reach, holding them at his side.</p><p>Law felt like a veil had passed over his vision – sound, sight and awareness leaving him with a similar feeling to that of falling asleep. It happened too fast for him to do anything about it.</p><p>"What happened back then is something none of us will escape," he said low, Carne and Charlie's faces twitching with unease. "Not even I."</p><p>In the faint flicker of the candle light, Kid could immediately see that something was different about the man. Law held himself with a slight hunch, his features wary but eyes sharp as they ventured from man to man and settled on something away from them. His skin rippled with goosebumps, and he couldn't explain why. He opened his mouth to speak.</p><p>Luffy burst into the room with a shouted "<em>AHA</em>!", startling all of them. Law blinked heavily, sucking in breath like he'd held it. Kid realized that the moment was lost, and threw a cardboard lid in Luffy's direction.</p><p>"You idiot!"</p><p>Carne ignored the noise that erupted from the pair while Law touched his own chest with a look of trepidation, unsure of what just happened. Sanji lit a cigarette, and Charlie smelled the sharp scent of smoke with a bewildered sniff of the air.</p><p>"He's here!" he hissed, snatching the bag from Carne's hand. "Evil thing, we'll return ya to the sea!"</p><p>"Not that it'll matter," Sanji replied evenly, hands sliding into his pockets.</p><p>"It won't matter," Law said aloud, looking from one to the other. "Because the sea wants what it was promised."</p><p>Charlie snarled, "Then we'll <em>unpromise</em> it! You find Zeff?"</p><p>"No, I did not get an answer…"</p><p>"These things will be righted once we get <em>your</em> name, and we can throw <em>you</em> in after it!" Charlie threatened.</p><p>"You won't be throwing our friend in! That's our job!" Luffy shouted, striding close to the other man. Law frowned at him with impatience.</p><p>"Who is Zeff?" Kid asked with bewilderment.</p><p>"Do any of you have a knife?" Law asked.</p><p>"You're not going to do that here!" Kid cried in horror. Law looked at him, wondering how the man could swing from one end to the other so easily. He was so gung-ho about it earlier. Kid realized the same thing and gave a sheepish shrug in response.</p><p>"What do you want that for? Carve yourself up again?" Carne asked cautiously.</p><p>"<em>Again</em>?" Kid repeated. "You already tried?"</p><p>"Without us?" Luffy asked, wearing a horrified expression.</p><p>"The monster gave this man his heart," Law said slowly, glancing cautiously in Sanji's direction. Sanji just watched him with a stony expression, smoke wafting from his cigarette in a noticeable movement. It occurred to the others that they could see the ember of his cigarette in the darkness – unable to see his features, all of them stilled, uncertain of what they were seeing. "And if I cut it out, I can cut <em>him</em> out of me. That's the theory, anyway."</p><p>"Won't matter," Sanji said around his cigarette.</p><p>"Then let me do it!" Charlie exclaimed, drawing a pocket knife from his jacket pocket and flicking it open. "I'll do it!"</p><p>"You'll stay where you are, old man," Luffy threatened, rolling up his jacket sleeves. "He said he'd do it himself!"</p><p>"There's so many things wrong with this conversation," Kid muttered to himself with a critical expression, "but I don't know how to sort it out without sounding like an idiot that agrees on just anything…"</p><p>"Don't worry, you'll always be an idiot after this," Law assured him. Kid snarled at him while Luffy laughed.</p><p>The building rumbled noisily, shaking with the intensity of an earthquake. Things clattered to the floor while the walls crackled noisily. Glass broke, the floor shifting in a rolling motion. All of them steadied themselves as the thunderous sound of a man chuckled outside.</p><p>For a moment, nothing could be said – all of them looked at each other fearfully, unable to see what it was that waited for them outside the walls. Sanji smoked in stoic silence, staring at the floor. The candles wavered for a moment before a couple toppled over onto the tables, spilling wax and flame over the abandoned contents of records that had been discarded. Once it was recognized, the trio hastily put the flames out by beating them with banker box lids, heavy files – the two older men glanced at each other uneasily.</p><p>Law looked at Sanji, throwing aside his box lid. He gestured at the two men. "Take your revenge!" he snapped at him. "They're here, take them!"</p><p>"In due time," Sanji said, pulling his cigarette from his mouth as he looked to the bewildered cooks. They happened to glance in his direction – noticing their anxiety, the ghost seemed to feel satisfaction in their discomfort.</p><p>"That's what you want, right? They're right here in front of you! Take advantage! We'll prevent them from leaving you!"</p><p>Law paused, feeling the sensation of a thick veil passing over his eyes. The feeling of a hard weight on his chest caused him to wince, hand to his heart as it throbbed with negative feeling. He was silent for a few moments, words passing around him like they were coming from underwater. Then he lifted his head.</p><p>"You were aware that human beings were cruel because you were warned of them before," he said thickly, Sanji looking at him sharply. His stomach churned uneasily, the taste of sea water permeating his senses before he could compose himself. At the attention turned his way, he felt his shoulders hunch.</p><p>"Why did I have to be taught that by <em>you</em>?" Sanji asked bitterly, his voice soft.</p><p>"You're not human, so why react as one?"</p><p>Sanji exhaled sharply, anger filling his face as Law felt various emotions pass through him with intensity similar to a punch. Regret, sincerity, a tremendous amount of guilt and shame – things that wanted to spill out but were held back by the reluctance of revealing anything; still hiding what he truly was by the judgement of others.</p><p>So used to feeling free and unashamed, Law felt these things as a foreign and painful invasion that held no ground in his world. Beyond his own understanding, but understood that these things were the way it was back in their time.</p><p>Kid looked at him suspiciously. "Is this you talking, or…?"</p><p>"Who else would it be?" Luffy asked, bewildered.</p><p>After a few moments, Law turned his head to spit sea water onto the floor. The cooks looked at him uneasily, then glanced at each other. Glass shattered noisily from a distance, and none of them could tell where it had come from. All of Law felt wet, his skin shiny with it – near similar to the night he'd first woken up to the activity in the house. He wiped his forehead, fingers bringing away moss.</p><p>Sanji turned away from him, his back visible in the flickering candlelight.</p><p>Looking at his shape in the darkness, Law said quietly, "Pudding said something nasty to her brothers that day. They were the ones to bring it up to the cooks. You guys were the ones that did something about it. My crime was…walking away… without saying anything…all of us are to blame for the circumstances that happened - "</p><p>"Unnatural of ya to take up space with something you pull from the sea!" Carne hissed at him.</p><p>Law fell into a coughing fit – water spilled over his hands and gushed onto the floor in an uncomfortable mixture of vomit and hacking. Kid and Luffy looked at him with combined horror and disgust, unsure of what to make of it. Law's body felt like how it did when he'd fallen in – seizing with the weight of water and the suffocating denial of oxygen. Every time his mouth opened, water spilled over his lips in a messy show of disposal. One hacking fit allowed a long strand of kelp to fall from his hands to the floor.</p><p>"<em>That's</em> what happened," Charlie said slowly. "'Stead of facing up to your crime, you gave yourself to the sea. Like a coward!"</p><p>"To <em>talk</em>," Law heard himself insist. "But none of them would bother with me. I tried to find the pieces, but the others already had had their fill."</p><p>Luffy's face scrunched up with horror as Kid realized the act of 'cannibalism'.</p><p>"They avoided me," Law continued, speaking to Sanji's back, "because they learned their lesson. But they knew who you were, they could identify your heart beating along with mine!"</p><p>The ghost was silent, head bowed.</p><p>"Garp tried to save him," Law continued, looking at the others, "but nothing would bring back what was left. So I waited until I could return to the surface. I thought nothing more of fixing this, but I know it's impossible - !"</p><p>"This is all <em>your</em> fault!' Charlie shouted at him accusingly. "If you hadn't brought that thing up to the shore, this would have never happened!"</p><p>"I never thought that it would end this way," Law said heavily.</p><p>"This is a lot of blaming," Kid interrupted, frowning from one to the other, "but none of that matters, now. We gotta fix the thing that's happening <em>now</em>."</p><p>"<em>Nothing</em> can fix it," Law told him regretfully. "These creatures aren't anything you can reason with. They're like the sea itself."</p><p>After sputtering up water that fell to the floor in a noisy drizzle, Law stepped out to the side – the sight was confusing because the man that emerged was a dripping, bloated creature that oozed water with every movement. Its breathing was heavy with moisture, whistling through broken teeth. The eyes that remained were bulging within flayed skin that were spotted with rot and decay. The smell was horrendous, immediately filling the room with a suffocating stench that was both sweet and foul at the same time. The clothes that still clung to parts of it was withered, discolored, stretched and near unrecognizable. The flesh of its fingers had been eaten away to reveal the sharp tips of bones, and these clenched with a gush of water at its sides.</p><p>A part of his ribcage was visible, and behind it beat a clear, moving puddle of gel-like material that continually coiled around itself, pumping oppositely of a human heart. One bony hand settled over the area, trembling slightly.</p><p>"It <em>hurts</em>," the thing whined in an agonized whisper.</p><p>Kid and Luffy jerked, the bigger man shoving the smaller in front of him as Law coughed noisily, stumbling backwards as he sucked in air with frantic effort. Once he caught sight of the thing in front of him – something that seized and jerked, water splashing about from its pale, splotchy skin, he fell back with a surprised cry.</p><p>"To atone for my crime," it said slowly, choking and coughing continued spills of water that hit the floor in a noisy splash, "I'll help finish what has been started."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>EIGHT</strong>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p>"<em>Monster</em>!" Charlie hissed, tossing a lit candle towards the oozing creature that lumbered forward towards them. The flame hit it with a sharp hissing that caused it to emit a mournful sound of its own, bloated body expanding and tightening in reaction before growing bigger. Drawing in water it had coughed out earlier, the thing seemed to grow in height and shape, exposed ribcage suddenly settled with a seemingly firm layer of murky water. "You were a man! You knew it was wrong, and ya did it anyway!"</p><p>"<em>Filthy scum</em>," Carne snapped. "If we could have caught you with him - !"</p><p>"Your <em>hate</em> is what cursed you," the thing belched in a slow, agonized wail. "Neither of us troubled anyone!"</p><p>"All this <em>drama</em>," Kid whispered to himself with heavy disgust, shaking his head. "For some long ago thing!"</p><p>"And now <em>we</em> gotta pay the price!" Luffy exclaimed.</p><p>Kid watched the thing lumber for a few moments, seeing Law scramble to his feet. The older men were retreating to the back door, which declared itself 'Locked' in floral print. In the panic arising within the room, Kid saw the form of another man move from the corner of his eye. In the faint glow of the candlelight, Sanji headed towards the old men that were making a run for the other door. It was surprising to see the ghost in full form, but it baffled him as to how the mechanics worked. Was Sanji a ghost, or something more?</p><p>"First a mermaid, then a man, then a ghost – are these things equipped with some kind of power?" he ended up wondering out loud.</p><p>"I don't think punching that thing is going to help us in anyway," Luffy decided, dashing away from the creature's reach as one arm lifted towards them. "And I'm going to run away because that thing <em>stinks</em>."</p><p>Kid noticed how the thing's heart beat frantically, both of them pulsing oppositely of each other. He realized that this was its weak point.</p><p>"Get the heart!" Kid shouted impatiently, reaching out for one of the candles. "Get the heart, and you can beat it!"</p><p>The creature emitted a mournful sound, body shuddering mightily. "Let me fix my mistake," it said, voice distorted by the shape it had taken. "Let me right the wrongs I created! It was <em>my</em> fault for encouraging a fish from the sea to become a man."</p><p>Sanji grit his teeth, expression turning venomous. Law winced, wishing they weren't drawn into some decades old couples spat.</p><p>The thing seemed to slump to one side, water causing bloated skin to pulsate. One bony hand touched that side of it, bulging eyes moving about before focusing on Kid. It shoved debris away from its space, lumbering forward with the heavy step of a giant. In the midst of the clamor, a single scream pierced the air before eking into terrible retching noises, causing Kid to look back just to see the cause of it.</p><p>Sanji pulled the head of Charlie from his quivering body, Charlie's shaking hands sputtering around him with the loss of control. The ghost seemed to shimmer for a moment, revealing the apparition in its complete form.</p><p>"This is <em>nothing</em>," he sputtered on a strangled wheeze, "this is <em>nothing</em> compared to what was done to me!"</p><p>Carne looked back to the others, old features turning desperate as he rounded the open doorway. "If that <em>thing </em>has <em>his</em> heart," he sputtered, gesturing at the thing that moved slowly under the weight of its own creation, "then you can rid of <em>this</em> one, too!"</p><p>Law jolted – Sanji had told him that he couldn't die until <em>his </em>heart did. He whipped his head about to consider his options, the ghost releasing an expression of dismay before tightening once more.</p><p>"<em>You're</em> helpless, now," Sanji told Carne thinly, causing the older man to blanch as he shoved and pushed at the door's pull bar. It finally dropped open, revealing a hallway glowing faintly by the water collecting against the building outside. Carne ran and Sanji strode after him, hands in his pockets.</p><p>The thing stopped moving, giving a whistling inhale full of torment. Then sobbed gently, giving them the impression that this thing – this former man – was still agonized by his own decisions. Law wondered why the dead turned into what it was – he once again looked at the heart that throbbed fiercely within a bleached rib cage. The combination it had taken was surely the key – if a mermaid could turn into a man, then perhaps this man was on his way into turning into a mermaid with Sanji's heart.</p><p>He couldn't help but reflect that the mutation was broken, somehow, wondering <em>why</em>.</p><p>Kid caught sight of the trash bag atop of the floor where Carne had dropped it, and hurriedly snatched it up.</p><p>"Let's dump this into the water, guys," he said breathlessly, causing the thing to lift its bulbous head.</p><p>"It won't matter," it coughed, choking on its own phlegm. Ejecting moss and bits of sand as it did so. "They'll only eat it."</p><p>Kid sneered at it, clutching the bag tightly. "Like the word of a coward matters! We just gotta try! Something you didn't do!"</p><p>Law winced as Kid's cutting words, and the thing gave a mournful cry – it seemed to expand, growing larger.</p><p>"Don't make it <em>sadder</em>!" Luffy exclaimed, giving it a sympathetic look.</p><p>The building rumbled noisily once more, the floor emitting a sharp cracking noise that caused a renewed sense of fear in all that remained. Water bubbled upwards from that crack as the filing cabinets shuddered against the walls and items fell from the walls. The remaining candles flickered, in danger of going out. Once he gained distance from the bloated creature that had to push against piles of opened banker's boxes around it, Kid saw that Law was pushing Luffy out the door.</p><p>"If we can get <em>these</em> two to the sea," Law said to Kid once he caught up, "maybe <em>they</em> can deal with those things."</p><p>"It's obviously five thousand against three," Kid hissed at them as they tromped through the hallway towards the stairs. The bag of bones banged against his leg as he held tightly to it. "The sea don't want those two!"</p><p>"The mermen were actively seeking <em>someone</em>," Law retorted, giving a discomforted look back as a single male scream rent the air. "They want <em>somebody</em>."</p><p>"They're killing everyone!"</p><p>"Then let's see who is right in this situation," Law challenged him, causing Kid to scowl.</p><p>Once they emerged onto the rooftop, they were horrified to see that water had built up to the lip of the rooftop edge. Seagulls cried out noisily, wings beating against the cold air as the surface splashed with visible fins. Law realized he couldn't "hear" what was being said as clicking noises rung out with audible alarm around them. Faces broke through the surface of the black water, revealing different merpeople as they breached themselves in an effort to see them. Thunder rumble noisily over the surface, causing sea gulls to shriek.</p><p>The entire building shuddered under their feet, Luffy looking around himself with unease. Kid immediately headed to the rooftop edge, ripping the bag open. Merpeople immediately swarmed up nearby, causing him to jerk away as their long, pale arms reached out in a bid to try and grab him. Mangled noises emerged from their fish-lips, blank eyes rolling about to look at them. Kid flung the contents of the bag over them, causing a frenzy amongst them as their attention was directed towards the bones. They crammed bones into their mouths, crunching noisily as they continued sounding out, eking noises that rang off the sea water.</p><p>Waiting to see if there was any positive reaction, Kid watched with a curled lip as bones were consumed noisily, Law and Luffy joining him with cautious expressions.</p><p>"Nothing," Kid realized, searching for something to happen. He watched upon the frenzy with an expression that dropped slightly. "Nothing's happening…"</p><p>"I thought these things only ate weeds," Luffy murmured, eyes wide.</p><p>Just as suddenly as the people had appeared, they suddenly abandoned the surface in a flurry of breaking water. The bloated creature from inside of the building spilled out onto the rooftop with a low moan – once it was fully emerged, Sanji walked out after it, tossing aside rippling matter that splattered the rooftop red. His ghostly form was tangible, now, visible to them as a solid man – the creature resembled a moving blob of murky black water with limbs, an oily substance coiling and blooming within its walls. It seemed to pulsate with each breath the creature gave, body quivering with effort.</p><p>"I'm sorry," it wheezed over and over, voice broken with regret. "I'm sorry…"</p><p>Ear piercing shrieks rang out from over the water, the surface shuddering noisily. Law was a little disappointed that he couldn't 'hear' the words they were saying, but he was certain they were reacting to the sight of the former merman. He elbowed Kid as Luffy braced himself, Sanji walking towards them with grim-faced determination.</p><p>"Throw him into the water – his form is solid, now," he advised, Kid looking at the man's approach. Law shoved him ahead, much to Kid's lack of preparation – he stumbled clumsily then fell, Sanji's foot lifting suddenly to kick. Luffy quickly hopped over Kid's back and punched the man, knocking him aside – much to Kid's mortification.</p><p>"<em>Bastards</em>!" he snarled at the pair of them, Law giving him a sheepish shrug of apology and Luffy resetting with a determined air. Sanji straightened, touching his face with vague shock; almost like he remembered what it felt like to receive physical pain.</p><p>Law noted this and glanced at the approaching monster as it screamed out suddenly – it wasn't a man, and it filled him with irritation that he couldn't see the ghost that had made him a home. But it sluggishly wilted for a moment, losing its monstrous form to take on the appearance of a man – which caused him to understand that if they continued damage onto Sanji, they could fell this one as well.</p><p>Resolved, he set forward towards the creature, to look for an opportunity to snatch the thing's hearts. He happened upon Luffy's spear, handling it with some confidence within both hands. But something snatched him by the foot with a hard squeeze, the sound of movement catching his attention behind him. He looked to see that a mermaid had lunged from the waters, landing over the roof with gasping breath, determined to pull him back to the others. This one was huge, monstrous tail flapping with considerable strength to yank him backwards. He ended up dropping Luffy's spear with surprise, to turn his efforts into fighting the thing off with his hands. Kid quickly shifted position to grab Law by his wrist, sitting his weight down as the merman struggled to pull Law.</p><p>Eventually, it released him and lunged back into the water, but two more used the lip of the roof's edge to crawl over, gasping noisily – their fish like faces showing nothing of their emotions, but their clawed hands reaching for them. Law kicked their black tipped fingers away, scrambling to his feet as their tails slapped against the concrete.</p><p>Meanwhile, Luffy circled around Sanji cautiously, looking for an opening. The man followed his movements tentatively, then faked a left, moving right with a wide swinging kick. Luffy blocked it with an arm curled over his head, shooting for a single leg takedown that knocked them both onto the ground. The instant he gained advantageous position, shrill shrieks from the water startled him.</p><p>From the surface, something immense began to emerge. He gaped at the sight of a bulbous head, which was jagged with spikes of kelp and stone. Fish fluttered helplessly around the flat surface area between formations, falling back into the water with hard thumps. Crabs scattered away from free floating black strands of hair – its skin was as dark and sandy as the ocean bottom, allowing it advanced camouflage; impossible to see underwater. Glittering round, beady eyes broke the surface, a furrowed brow mottled with spots shifting with humanistic expression.</p><p>"It's <em>King Triton</em>!" Luffy cried in alarm, climbing away from Sanji, who scrambled to his feet to retreat to the furthest edge of the building.</p><p>Kid's head whipped around to see this, alarmed as two monstrous hands clasped onto the edge of the rooftop. Blackened fingertips broke and ripped the roof's edge into pieces as heavy weight shifted the monstrous form out of the water. It was much larger than the building, physically massive in such a way that it should have been impossible to for it to place itself in that position. Even Law found himself gaping in shock as the monster he'd seen in memories that weren't his own finally revealed itself.</p><p>Thunder rumbled noisily, painfully affecting their equilibrium – it was a sound that caused their bones to vibrate, that seemed to pulse against their inner organs. An elongated nose pulled into view, and underneath that, sharp, jagged teeth. Gills opened and closed as it chuckled, broad, muscled shoulders tightening with movement. Fins fell flat over its broad, muscled back, long strands of black hair catching over glittery scales that reflected the dim light of the day. It clearly resembled a mutated shark – much more massive than the creatures that clearly avoided its proximity.</p><p>One of the mer-people flapped uselessly from its left shoulder blade, which was spiked with erratic formations that protruded away from it. The creature's body was caught within these spikes, and the king reached back with one hand to pull it away from itself. As beady, golden eyes examined the shocked humans staring up at it from the rooftop, it pulled the helpless creature to its mouth and crunched down on it easily, causing it to squeal noisily – guts spilled over the king's hand and splattered onto the rooftop as those jagged teeth crunched raucously over the mer-person's form. The hapless creature shivered and jerked as it broke and spilled from the king's mouth and fist.</p><p>Kid and Luffy gaped up at the monster with horror. Law couldn't help but wonder how this thing even allowed Sanji human life with the way it treated its own subject as a snack. He glanced back to see Sanji looking up at the thing with trepidation, just as fearful of it as the merpeople around it.</p><p>Speaking with bloodied teeth, the huge monster used a voice that thundered over the salty air and caused birds to scatter.</p><p>"Snacks," it said, mouth billowing wide to reveal more jagged teeth and a throat cavity spotted with black color. "<em>Human</em> snacks."</p><p>"We're going to die," Luffy told Kid seriously, shoulders sagging, "because there is <em>no</em> spear big enough to kill that."</p><p>"<em>Now</em> is the time for optimism," Kid insisted on a hiss, but he continued looking upon the monster with fear.</p><p>"If one of us could get purposely swallowed, we can gut it from the inside," Law said plaintively. "Anyone with a knife?"</p><p>"I volunteer <em>you</em> to this, <em>Drax</em>!" Kid bellowed at him, single arm waving in the air.</p><p>Law remembered the spear Luffy had found from the remains of the motorboat, scrambling in that direction.</p><p>The monster shifted, dropping the remains of its snack into the water. It bubbled with a frenzy as those around it swarmed the parts of the merperson, eating with the veracity of a pack of piranhas. Before they could move, the monster reached out and snatched the watery thing that accompanied Sanji. It squealed as it wiggled haplessly in the monster's grasp, spilling water around it as clawed fingers tightened its grip. Pulling it towards him, the monster opened his mouth to take a bite – the trio could only watch with horror, unable to move as one monster bit into another.</p><p>Water burst and rained out over the rooftop and the trio, who reacted belatedly. Bones clattered to the concrete, spilling bloated and ruined human organs around them.</p><p>"<em>Abomination</em>!" the monster roared, the air vibrating with intense pressure and sound. It spit the remains in its mouth out into the water. "Human and fish scum cannot walk this world as living!"</p><p>Its broken speech reminded Law of the way the merpeople spoke; a broken sentence that only bridged understanding without fillers. That clawed fist mangled the thing before dropping it – water spilled away, sending ruined organs scattering and bones bouncing to crack into a broken pile. Law looked to Sanji, searching for a reaction and seeing only apathy as his eyes dropped to the pile left behind of his former lover. But he noticed a twitch of his brow, something that gave a warning to his sluggish instincts.</p><p>"Humans," the monster crowed, Law slapping his hands over his ears as the others reacted similarly, "are revolting, ugly peons of the surface! Turn on each other to thrive – not meant for any sort of compassion, or understanding. Know this…give them nothing as they seek to destroy you…"</p><p>With a hiss of air bursting from its gills, the monster slowly sank back into the waters, causing it to spill over the rooftop with alarming reminder that the trio was not safe. Once its crowned head disappeared, the men looked at each other with helpless expressions. The quiet that remained afterward was deceptive – birds called in the distance, and there were obviously shouts coming from those that were trapped on the road high above the town. Vehicle horns blared with insistent action. But the water below seemed to tremble as the building shook restlessly underneath their feet.</p><p>Once again, the fish-faces that hid from the monster started to reappear. Clicking noises steadily rose with excited volume as they were surrounded.</p><p>Ignoring the trio, Sanji stalked over to the pile the monster had left crumbled on the rooftop. Reaching in, he withdrew the still beating pile of matter that coiled and pulsed against each other - much like a lava lamp in action. Staring at it, he seemed mesmerized while the voices of his people called out around them, still frantically trying to reach for them.</p><p>Sanji then looked at them, losing that tense expression he wore. Wearing something that looked more like empathy. His jaw unclenched as the shrill shrieks of his former people shrilled out around them like a wave of sea gulls flocking overhead. </p><p>"Neither world is worth saving," he said slowly. "Each has its share of unfair crimes…seeing both was selfish."</p><p>"That was only your perspective, but it isn't like that for the rest of us," Law pointed out. "Despite our own stupid actions and consequences…none of us has any regrets."</p><p>"Then you haven't lived, have you?" Sanji retorted. His face filled with remorse moments later, words leaving him with a heaviness that suggested that this was a useless venture. For a moment, Law felt some empathy for the man – then he remembered the way Sanji was willing to take humans lives just so that he could live his out with some lonely loser who thought it was a great idea to fuck with nature.</p><p>Luffy stepped forward with a troubled expression. "Don't feel like your life was a regret," he said hastily, "because it wasn't. You took on an adventure that no one else could do - !"</p><p>"And ended up <em>dead</em> because of my decisions, because of my thoughts and feelings," Sanji snapped back at him. "So was it an adventure to be proud of?"</p><p>"…The circumstances could have been different," Luffy admitted begrudgingly. He felt sympathy for someone that had fallen in love with someone and had taken risks to do so; all the while experiencing an adventure into the total unknown.</p><p>Kid said nothing, considering the situation with a grim expression. His thoughts were admittedly stuck on the fact that a man, a closeted homosexual, had decided to date a fish back in the old days.</p><p>Sanji looked at the hearts that beat in his hand, pounding strongly with a sense of quality that made them seem like a separate entity, a creature of its own standing. The gel glimmered in the faint sunlight from above while the murky darkness within it pulsed weakly. Law couldn't read the expression he wore, couldn't guess the depths of the man's thoughts – but he felt that some consideration was happening right before them.</p><p>"I…can't imagine that there is something different," Sanji muttered. He pulled the hearts apart, revealing the human organ that seemed to shudder once it was exposed to the light while the gel-like organ reshaped into a smaller lump more fitting of a fish's. His fingers colored as he crushed the human heart in one hand, watching it crumble and break without any effort. He then tossed it out into the water, watching the small swarm that occurred right after.</p><p>Looking at his own, he stilled for several moments, hair fluttering in the cold breeze.</p><p>The building shuddered mightily as the monster rose from the depths again, roaring with sound. Water rose with great fanfare around him, sloshing heavily throughout the watery town.</p><p>"There is no forgiveness for abominations!" it thundered towards the sky, rising from the water like a living skyscraper. He reached for Sanji, the man frozen in place. As the monster pulled him to its opening mouth, Luffy raced forward, causing Kid's and Law's mouths to drop with astonishment. Luffy used the monster's hand to brace himself clumsily, reaching out to snatch the heart Sanji still clutched.</p><p>With similar shock, still being pulled towards the monster's mouth, Sanji watched as Luffy swallowed the gel-like item with effort. Law and Kid reacted with horror, one of Kid's hands settling over his gut as Luffy then pushed away, leaping back to the roof. His face green as he struggled not to retch, he fell to his knees as the monster chomped its several rows of teeth over Sanji's form.</p><p>Nothing spectacular happened – no gushing of organs, no crunch of bones. He simply faded away as Luffy gagged noisily. The slow moving monster looked puzzled as he pulled his hand from his mouth, examining the emptiness within his palm. It occurred to Law what Luffy had done, whirling in place to hiss, "<em>STUPID</em>!"</p><p>Luffy snatched up the spear they had abandoned, whirling on one knee. He braced his hand against his mouth to prevent from puking, managing to compose himself quickly. </p><p>"I can do this!" he shouted as the monster turned its massive head to once again face them.</p><p>"This is our only chance!" Kid grunted, grabbing a piece of shredded metal from the remains of the motorboat.</p><p>Determined, Luffy raced towards the monster once again as it released a massive roar that echoed over the water. It bent down to bite down on him but reacted with another scream as Kid rammed his weapon into the creature's exposed throat. Law thought that they were both mad, scrambling backwards to get some distance from the scene. He noticed that the merpeople were now more focused on the activity than on them. He turned, scanning the waters and spotted hope in the distance. Without saying anything, he dove into the water.</p><p>Its mouth smelled like sea water curdled with trash and refuse, Luffy realized, scrambling up its scaly throat and throwing himself sideways to avoid the piercing, jagged teeth that started to close up on him. It was warm, wet and suffocating – but it breathed mightily as its massive tongue curled back and its throat pulsed to swallow him. He held his breath, realizing belatedly that he probably wouldn't be able to breathe. As he began slithering down the cavernous throat, he braced himself against the slippery sides by setting his feet apart and catching hold of the scaly indentures of the back of the tongue. Once he was set mid-way, he gasped for breath – there was enough oxygen for him to use, but it was heavy and hot, filled with a chemical difference that made his mind sluggish and his own lungs scream with alarm. He shoved the spear head deep into the meat, driving his feet against the back of its throat and pushing forward with all his strength just to insure the metal ripped sensitive pieces. It stopped his descent, and the muscle jerked with alarming strength, throat muscles pulsing as it struggled to remove him.</p><p>He ended up losing his balance, grabbing hold of the weapon with slimy hands. Blood gushed around him with alarming warmth and strength, and he struggled to breathe, bowing his head so that he could gasp what he could from the position. He couldn't see below him, and only the faint light of the king's monstrous opened mouth allowed him little visual from above.</p><p><em>This is the </em>worst<em> idea I've ever had</em>! he realized with some terror.</p><p>"What are you doing?"</p><p>He couldn't see who was speaking to him, head jerking about as his clothes were soaked. But it was familiar – quite sure it was Sanji asking him this. He remembered he'd swallowed the merman's heart.</p><p>"Killing him," he answered breathlessly.</p><p>"…You…you can do that?"</p><p>Luffy was amazed by the shock in that question – it gave him the impression that Sanji hadn't ever thought of such a concept. Luffy was shocked himself that this was so. His face twisted with confusion as the king's throat rocked around him, threatening to dislodge him. The metal piece he clung to gave him some grip to use to stay in position – kicking his feet out, he settled it against the back of the monster's throat, bracing himself awkwardly. He sputtered, almost throwing up as the warm liquid continued to gush over him.</p><p>"I'm going to <em>try</em>!" he shouted back in response, his voice muffled and small compared to the roar that was escaping the monster's insides.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kid couldn't help but gape as Luffy allowed himself to be swallowed, hands falling to his sides. The monster reared up, throat jerking as he struggled to swallow. Around it the creatures cried and shrilled, darting forward just to dart back for their safety. The monster pulled away from the building with a gurgle of sound, slow moving because of its size. Water billowed over the rooftop with its movement, its huge body sinking deep until it disappeared from his sight.</p><p>Incredulous, Kid listened to the remaining silence – water bubbled from where the creature had sunk, the presence of the merpeople absent from the scene. The surface broke gently, shifting as the monster swam underneath. Power lines and trees rattled and toppled slowly against the water, Kid realizing that it intended on swimming away from them. Horror crossed his expression – he had absolutely no idea how they were going to save Luffy.</p><p>"Goodbye, idiot," he said softly, unable to think. He looked back to see Law's reaction and realized he was the only one standing there. "<em>What the fuck</em>…?"</p><p>In the dead silence that remained, he swore he heard Garp laughing in the distance. It made his cheek twitch.</p><p>The monster broke through the surface of the water with a strangled gurgle that turned into a warped scream of pain. Its massive hands went to its throat, claws scratching crevices through its own skin. Kid whirled around, mouth falling open with incredulous staring. All around it, merpeople broke the surface to claw at its massive body, scratching at it with determination; whether to help aide their king or do their best to get at the man who had stolen a merman's heart. The shrill noises they made were comparable to sea gulls screaming in the sky – all of it an animalistic setting, like seeing a shark's feeding frenzy. The monster flailed, gurgling noises that rang over the water, pushing mightily to escape certain danger from within.</p><p>It rose upwards, like it was preparing to stand. It revealed the long, heavy body of a shark with mottled, scaled skin, sea debris falling away from it. It became tangled in powerlines that had lined the town streets, trees pulled from the water as it flailed its beefy arms. It splashed back down, like a whale breaching itself over the ocean surface, sinking briefly before rising again. It continued to claw at itself, eking noises of distress that shrilled over the entire area. Eventually it disappeared back underneath the water, the flurry around it leaving with it.</p><p>Once the silence fell, Kid was uncertain of what to do. There was no way he could just dive into the water to chase after it. He whirled around, searching for Law or escape. Seeing that the waters were empty, he dove in, bursting up through the surface to give an outraged shout at the temperature. He swam for the lifting hills that surrounded the town, glancing behind him all the while.</p><p>Meanwhile, Law struggled to start the engine of the motorboat – it had a mermaid imprinted on the side of it, along with the license number, so he figured it belonged to the older men. It was anchored just behind the Rodney building, and had empty alcohol cans lingering at the floorboards. Once the engine roared to life, he directed it back towards where he'd seen the monster disappeared. He thought he'd circle around until Luffy hopped out, for sure that this was an ideal situation. The teen was always so impulsive, running head long into something that even whispered of danger, and Law had no doubt that he just had to wait.</p><p>Sure enough the monster rose once more, closer to where the docks were. Dark liquid gushed out from its opened maw, splashing down into the sea. All around it were a flurry of movement as its people surrounded it. Some were even clinging to it with a sort of mad energy, clinging to the protrusions on its shoulders and back. The monstrous sea king swatted some of the offenders away from it, gurgling noises that were similar to an animal dying. It shuddered mightily, head tossing back and forth with a great urgency.</p><p>It then began to heave, shoulders jerking with the effort as it snorted in heavy doses of oxygen. Suddenly it spit outward, Law catching sight of Luffy flying through the air from feet above, slamming into the water like a rock dropped from a cliff. Law veered into that direction, watching the monster cautiously. It was still clawing at itself, struggling to breathe. It lumbered backward until he hit back first against the surface, causing water to spray up majestically around it. The flurry of movement around it assured Law that the merpeople would remain occupied with the monster's fight for life. Once he was in the area where he'd seen Luffy hit, he killed the engine of the motorboat and scrambled to look over.</p><p>The water was clear enough for him to see below the depths – the clear outlines of the dock and structures stood out against the shimmering water, along with the distinct outline of the shore. He also spotted Luffy sinking steadily towards the bottom, limp. Law dove in, reaching for the teen that gave no indication that he was even conscious.</p><p>Once he grasped the younger man's jacket, Law pulled back up to the surface. He managed to shove Luffy onto the boat and climbed in unsteadily, breathing noisily. He looked over to where he'd seen the monster retreat, but all that was left was a flurry of sea gulls in the air, screaming out noisily as they seemed to chase the water back to the ocean. The boat was starting to pull outward, carried by a sudden current so Law restarted the outboard engine and negotiated his way back towards land.</p><p>In the quiet that remained, the water began to recede.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>EPILOGUE::</strong>
</p><p>Kid lowered his phone with a stunned expression while Law frowned at his newspaper. Luffy was recovering at a hospital an hour away from their sea ravaged town, and both of them were waiting patiently for any word in the hall. The news that had started detailing the events of the strange insurgence felt fictional.</p><p>'Bodies Found Ravaged By Sharks!' read one headline.</p><p>'Tsunami Caused By Earthquake Off Shore Devastates Town!' read another.</p><p>'Massive Whale Sighting Excites Evacuees!'</p><p>"Like, if we said anything," Kid said slowly, amidst the quiet sounds of patients, equipment and gentle music from the radio coming from the nurse's station nearby, "no one would believe us."</p><p>Law closed the newspaper with a fluff. He had half a mind focused on Kid's words and the rest lingering on a story about Pudding's death – the woman had succumbed to a suspicious amount of pills after a doctor's visit, and blame was going to her caretakers. "Why should they?"</p><p>Kid examined the ceiling lights for a few moments, then exhaled noisily. "If that thing eventually died from its wounds, I have no doubt in my mind that those things ate it. The way I see it, they resorted to cannibalism to erase any signs of their existence!"</p><p>"<em>Is</em> it cannibalism?" Law murmured curiously.</p><p>"What matters in the end is that Luffy," Kid lowered his voice to a whisper, leaning in close to be heard, "is still with two hearts."</p><p>"He was vomiting quite fiercely when I picked him up. He might have discharged it – I didn't get a chance to look," Law said, this observance somehow appeasing Kid. "It was a lot of blood – not his. Blood and sea water – that thing most likely went along with it."</p><p>"Well, this was a fucked up waste of time," Kid said with a sigh, hands behind his head as he sunk uncomfortably in his seat. "We're broke, we're out of a contract and there's no time to jump on anyone else's boat! I really wasn't looking forward to picking up any sort of work outside of this! But I guess a garage will pick me up…"</p><p>Law looked unsettled, lips curled into a pouty frown. "I'll have to return to my thankless position as a surgeon and live the rest of this year alone in a high tax bracket and a winter Arizona timeshare."</p><p>Kid frowned at him. "Why <em>do</em> people hate you so much?"</p><p>"Probably because I don't have a gut," Law said, patting Kid's as he rose from his seat, Kid sputtering furiously as he kicked at him. From the doorway nearby, Luffy popped out, startling both of them. In his hospital gown and an IV attached, Luffy clung to the doorway with an excited expression.</p><p>"Did I just hear you guys ask if I were hungry?" he asked curiously. "Because I most definitely am!"</p><p>Law froze, sure that neither he nor Kid said anything of that line. But he remembered that same voice asking him that before the chaos had started. Kid gave a gruff sigh.</p><p>"What are you doing out of bed, idiot? Get back in there," he complained, shoving him back towards the bed and having the unfortunate circumstance of seeing Luffy's droopy boxer shorts. He covered his eyes as Luffy begrudgingly climbed back onto the bed. "Last I heard, your family was coming over as soon as they had the situation sorted out back home with your grandpappy."</p><p>"<em>Grandpappy</em>!" Luffy laughed, causing Kid's face to fill with red. Law slapped his back to divert his attention elsewhere, leaning against the doorframe. "It always sounds so funny when you say that!"</p><p>"Did you throw up that heart?" Law asked Luffy reproachfully. "There is no reason for you to have it."</p><p>"I'm pretty sure I did," Luffy said, patting his chest with a sick expression. "Because I was throwing up <em>loads</em> after being inside of that thing. I swallowed stuff that man should never have to swallow."</p><p>"I'm sure that's what <em>he</em> said, too," Kid said with a blank expression.</p><p>Unsure of what Kid meant, Luffy shrugged it off. "I think it's all over – I speared that bitch so far in, I'm surprised you couldn't see it from the outside! <em>That's</em> how you kill an Ursula, Kid! Remember that!"</p><p>"Like I would have to! Something like that would never happen again!"</p><p>"They would need another ruler after this one," Law mentioned. "Hopefully none of them repeats the mistakes <em>this</em> one did."</p><p>"I think times have changed since then," Luffy said, giving him a skeptical look. "Because love is love, now. It's okay for a man to love another man and all that!"</p><p>"It's still <em>weird</em>," Kid muttered with a curled lip. "Like, a fish literally became a man because he liked another man - !"</p><p>"Mer<em>man</em>, Kid! Half and half!"</p><p>"He lived underwater, so he was literally a fish!"</p><p>"But he was still <em>half</em> human!"</p><p>"It's still the same <em>weird</em> thing!"</p><p>"Enough of this," Law interrupted their growing shouts, cringing. "I'm tired of the subject. What was done was done. <em>Idiot</em>, once you see the papers, you'll see that every death was attributed to a shark attack. The town was flooded by a tsunami, an earth made disaster – I think it would be important not to mention the smaller details that we've survived."</p><p>"<em>Why</em>?" Luffy asked skeptically, sipping noisily from his ice water.</p><p>"No one believes in things like that," Law stated slowly, "and if you speak crazy, you'll be seen as crazy. All those that knew of the life forms are now dead, with no one else to carry on the crime."</p><p>"So we just…<em>pretend</em> this never happened?"</p><p>"I did happen, there's no denying it," Kid said, crossing his arms over his chest, "but no one this day and age believes in mermaids. So to hear about it now – it's not gonna do you any good."</p><p>Luffy looked up at both of them with consideration, forehead furrowed.</p><p>"I'm sure your grandfather said some things to his family that you can echo with your own version of events," Law said slowly, "but to anyone else it'll only sound like…well…"</p><p>"Like you're crazy," Kid added. "You're crazy enough, this will just ostracize you even further."</p><p>"I don't feel like being an ostrich," Luffy mumbled to himself, causing Kid to look at him with exasperation. "But Garp wouldn't admit to anything about it, so I doubt he said anything to the family in the first place. But it's up to me whether it's important enough to mention! What are you guys going to do now?"</p><p>"Find work elsewhere. You gonna stay out here with your family?" Kid asked.</p><p>"Yeah, well…until something else comes up. Garp was always threatening me with college, so now that he's dead, I bet it'll happen," Luffy said with reluctance.</p><p>"It sucks that neither of you knew what it was like to grow up having to fend for yourselves," Kid spit angrily. "Both of you are weak little ninnies! Fuck it! I'm going to cafeteria! I don't know if I'll come back up, this entire thing irritates me!"</p><p>He then strode off while Luffy looked bewildered and Law uninterested. Luffy looked to Law. "Theoretically," he said slowly, "what would happen if I didn't throw it up?"</p><p>"I'm quite positive you did," Law said. "That was a lot of vomit you were tossing up. To remind you of the worst case scenario, he promised to <em>kill</em> in order to stay human."</p><p>"King Triton is dead," Luffy reminded him. "Quite positive he is. So even if Sanji had to, there's no reason for him to."</p><p>"We have not seen the body of this Triton."</p><p>"The way I did it, he's <em>dead</em>, Law. And besides, why pay homage to something that tried to eat him?" Luffy asked, shrugging. "There's no point honoring a contract if the guy was trying to kill him, too! Sanji can die as a man-ghost!"</p><p>"The point is," Law said sternly, giving him a look, "that ghost planned on murdering a mess of people in order to stay human. After everything he's endured so far, you think he <em>still</em> doesn't want to be human?"</p><p>"Well, he went through some shitty experiences, so…I kinda don't see him as wanting to be a human after that," Luffy said slowly. "But then again, he really liked the idea of living as one so he could love a man that was nice to him, so…maybe the good will outweigh the bad, and if he has a chance, why not take the chance? What's wrong with wanting to be human? Aren't <em>we</em> having a good time?"</p><p>Law stared at Luffy for several seconds, making Luffy nervous as he glanced in another direction. Straightening away from the doorframe, Law moved to the bed and pressed up against it, not removing eye contact. Luffy started to sweat as he did all that he possibly could from making similar contact.</p><p>"I will cut you open myself," Law said slowly, "and remove it properly if I have to. The moment I learn that there are people dying around you mysteriously, I will return and not hesitate to do so. I'm done with this mermaid magic shit. I want a normal life."</p><p>"Gah, why are you so <em>psycho</em>?" Luffy complained, waving a hand before Law's face with impatience. "I told you it's gone! Besides, the way he was talking, he was tired of killing people! Why should he when he hates us both? I mean, mermaids and humans? <em>Both</em> of them betrayed him!"</p><p>Law pushed away from the bed, still glaring at him suspiciously. He ended up glancing around the room, looking for the shape of the ghost that he was hoped was gone. It made him uneasy to think that Sanji was still around, encouraged to live a human's life with Luffy's encouragement.</p><p>"I would not hesitate," he warned Luffy again, before turning and leaving the room.</p><p>Luffy looked after his exit with a confounded expression before balling the hem of the blanket up around his lap. He then looked at the wide, bright room that allowed him to look over the hospital's parking lot. The quiet noises outside of his room was but a faint tinkling of sound that felt almost soothing. Drumming his fingers atop of his blanket, Luffy exhaled slowly. He wasn't hungry – his body felt weak and listless after going without food for a full day, but he couldn't find an appetite. It felt alarming that he could feel nothing at all after the exertions he'd taken.</p><p>He looked out over his room, hearing the vague noises of a top twenty station playing in the distance. A doctor with a nurse talking low at his side walked by Luffy's room, and gentle laughter sounded out from down the hall.</p><p>On a low whisper, he asked, "Did I keep you?"</p><p>He really wasn't expecting an answer, and didn't get one. He rubbed his chest with uncertainty.</p><p>: :</p><p>Nearly a year later, Law slammed the door of his rental car door shut. He was grumpy, pulling on his down jacket with an exasperated huff of air. The smell of the sea was thick here, and it made his very bones shiver. He'd spent time away in the desert to chase away this cold and the memories that came with it, but being called back so soon made him anxious in a way that didn't feel comfortable.</p><p>Everything looked as if it had before the water had swept it all underneath its depths. There were less trees and houses, but ongoing construction assured him that this town was still operating. He'd noticed that the restaurant was gone – replaced by a drug store. The Rodney building was gone, an empty space in the middle of town that looked strangely foreign. The air was cold with frosty wind and birds that made quick darts from tree to tree. Snow lingered in the horizon of the sea, and he stared at it for some time before he heard the shouts from below.</p><p>The pier had been replaced with a fancier, sturdier version of the one that had been so rickety before. Lifted high above the water, allowing for a broader walkway and a place to sit comfortably for photos. Luffy was waving at him from the shoreline, shouting for his attention. He didn't look any different. With reluctance, Law shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered from the parking lot to the sand with a heavy sigh.</p><p>The younger man looked at him brightly before hugging him tightly.</p><p>"<em>Get off</em>!" Law snarled at him, managing to rip out of his grasp. "For fuck's sake, I don't have anything signifying 'Hug Me' on me!"</p><p>"I heard it from your heart," Luffy said mock-mysteriously before waving at him to follow. "It's been a year! <em>It's been a year</em>, and we're celebrating our survival with a meet up!"</p><p>"Kid's here, too?" Law asked curiously, taking the stairs up the wharf and spying the man standing nearby, looking just as surly as he did. "Ah. Wow. You got fat."</p><p>"I'm going to drown you!" Kid threatened him, spitting over the safety railings while opening up a can of beer. "Look at you, hoity-toity doctor – what in the world convinced you to come back up here?"</p><p>"Luffy told me I'd get to see some boobs," Law told him dryly.</p><p>Kid gave him a pitying look. "Well, with your attitude, it's no wonder that you haven't seen any before."</p><p>"<em>These</em> ones!" Luffy cried, gesturing at their feet. Kid and Law looked down to see that the wooden planks were decorated with various types of mermaids – pretty, curvy creatures without a shell in sight. After what the three had seen, none of them could look at mermaid imagery without seeing the creatures that had tried to eat them. The women were in the midst of movement, swimming towards the edge of the wharf with their hands outstretched. "Aren't they great?"</p><p>'<em>Remember Me</em>,' was written in floral print below their flapping tails.</p><p>"I left eighty-five degree weather for <em>this</em>?" Law asked tightly.</p><p>"Actually, we're here for another reason," Luffy admitted sheepishly, looking at them with hesitation. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "It's the one year anniversary of what happened, and maybe we should pay our respects to the people we lost."</p><p>Law and Kid looked at him with disdain.</p><p>Luffy pulled his backpack off, pulling out a bouquet of flowers. He waved them about, petals flying around him. "For the old guys, for the ones eaten by accident – for Sanji."</p><p>"I don't care about any of those dudes," Kid said with irritation. "I didn't know any of them, save for that they were all assholes."</p><p>"If it wasn't for them, Kid, we wouldn't have had a great adventure!" Luffy said with an admonishing tone, heading for the edge of the pier. He tossed the bouquet in, then clapped his hands together in prayer form. He lowered his head with his eyes closed. "All of you, rest in peace! May you get another chance at life!"</p><p>Law and Kid rolled their eyes, both of them taking impatient steps away from each other.</p><p>"This is ridiculous," Law muttered.</p><p>"I can't believe I'm here," Kid murmured over his can of beer. "What the fuck convinced me to come up here for this stupid ass idea - ?"</p><p>"Are any of you hungry?"</p><p>"<em>Fuck yeah</em> I am!" Luffy cried with excitement, leaping up with a whirl while the other two startled at the sound of the newest voice. Both of them turned around to see the man standing there, holding a steaming pot of stew, a loaf of bread balanced over it. At the sight of Sanji, both men looked horrified. Kid's beer dropped from his surprised hand while the man gave them both puzzled looks at their reaction.</p><p>Luffy suddenly laughed uproariously, pointing at their startled faces.</p><p>"<em>This</em> guy - ! I met him at college!" Luffy said excitedly, slinging an arm around Sanji's shoulders while Sanji looked at the others with a polite expression. "He's a dead ringer for the guy we know! Same name and everything."</p><p>"Canada," Sanji said, blinking repeatedly as Law and Kid looked at him like they had just seen a ghost. "My accent – in case you were wondering."</p><p>"He makes such good stuff!" Luffy declared, taking the ladle from the pot. "I brought him to scare you guys, knowing how big of a baby you both are…looks like I succeeded, <em>nerf</em>! You should see your own dumb faces!"</p><p>Law and Kid were stiff, uncertain of what to think as they watched Sanji scold Luffy for eating directly from the pot, bringing out tumblers from a bag he carried. Both of them were searching for any sign that this man was the ghost that terrorized them, neither of them ready to accept that they were seeing him. Law was running Sanji's spoken sentence through his head, unable to forget the broken speech the creatures had spoken with – sure it was the same stop and go flow formation of words.</p><p>Kid reached out and pinched Sanji's arm, causing the man to kick him in response.</p><p>"What was that for?" Sanji snapped at him, Luffy looking up with surprise. He rubbed at his arm as he looked at Luffy for an explanation.</p><p>"He's not the <em>other</em> guy," Luffy stressed with impatience, rising to stand as he chewed on succulent pieces of beef, potatoes and carrots being blown upon before stuffed into his already full mouth. "Kid. <em>Jeez</em>. He just said he was from Canada."</p><p>"Which part of Canada?" Law asked warily, unable to look away from Sanji.</p><p>"The furthest part," Sanji replied snottily, looking at them with uncertainty. "Jeez. Luffy asked me to come to meet his friends. He was nice to me, so I agreed."</p><p>Law looked at Luffy with a sort of incredulous expression. Luffy grinned up at Sanji with joy while Sanji looked uncomfortable – dressed in wintery gear while standing with uncertainty.</p><p>Law's skin pimpled at that moment, causing him a shiver he couldn't define. He looked at Luffy, unable to see a guy willing to place other people in danger so that a merman could get his wish. But Luffy chewed merrily on his food, complimenting Sanji with such praise that the other man beamed joyfully.</p><p>"I just thought it'd be <em>funny</em>," Luffy said with an awkward laugh. "Because he looks <em>just</em> like the other guy. Hell, Law, there was once a dude that looked exactly like you once upon a time, so how is this scary in anyway?"</p><p>"Coincidences are possible," Law muttered vaguely, rubbing the chill from his arms.</p><p>Kid held up a finger to speak when the wharf shook, as if impacted by something large. All of them jolted in place, startled at the movement and sound. Abandoning his tumbler and piece of bread, Luffy hurried over to look over the edge. Kid hastily snatched up his beer can and made his way towards the shore without saying anything. Law looked at Sanji suspiciously as the man picked up his stew with a startled look towards his younger friend.</p><p>Luffy looked into the waters below, seeing the frothy swirl of the surface break up against the pier's sturdy legs. He couldn't see beyond those angry waves – the sky was too over casted, the day dark with a hidden sun, but he imagined there was something down there that was still angry.</p><p>Something red fluttered briefly to the surface before retreating down into the darkness. Luffy swore it looked like his old jacket – the one he'd lost when he'd fallen into the water from the pier the first time. He pushed up to his feet with an unsteady push.</p><p>"Gave me the willies," he admitted to the others, stuffing the rest of the bread into his mouth. "Flashbacks. PCSD."</p><p>Law made to correct him but gave up as Luffy helped Sanji gather up his things, both of them chuckling between each other about insignificant things. They then made their way off the pier, Kid still glaring suspiciously at Sanji at a safe distance. Despite himself, Law had to step to the edge of the pier – he saw exactly what Luffy had, the waters swirling darkly around the legs with frothy insistence. He then looked out over the horizon with uncertainty, noticing the sea gulls flying frantically overhead. He then looked back at the others, noting the way the Canadian Frenchman's stiff stance and discomforted expression as he glanced over the water. Law then slowly made his way off the pier, hands jammed deeply into his jacket pockets.</p><p>"We rented a room downtown," Sanji told Law as he approached. Law had to admit he had a strangely melodic voice – that accent was a little exciting. "Both of you are welcome to come. He's got a lot of stories to share."</p><p>"I'm sure they're…fun," Law muttered, not wanting that extra time spent with Luffy but then again, driven by a desire to explore his suspicions of the man. "Full of detail, I bet."</p><p>"No way," Kid said with a shake of his head. "I've seen a bunch of horror movies, and that's just an invite to having my balls ripped out from my stomach."</p><p>Sanji gave him a disgusted look. "That is medically <em>impossible</em>."</p><p>"Not after what we've seen," Law murmured, looking into the pot at Luffy's feet. It looked delicious.</p><p>"Are you hungry?" Sanji asked him. "There is more. I wouldn't trust this one any longer – he's terrible at keeping his floaties to himself."</p><p><em>Why the fuck do I like listening to him</em>? Law wondered, giving Sanji a dirty look.</p><p>"Hey," Luffy complained, bread crumbs dribbling from his mouth. "Not true! Anyway, c'mon, Kid! There's plenty of beer if you're interested! None of that Natty shit, I assure you."</p><p>"What's wrong with that? I happen to like that shit! Anyway, whatever, it can't be that bad. Maybe I'll find out the truth," Kid said, crushing his empty can and tossing it in the direction of the trash can.</p><p>"I also got us a boat!" Luffy added with excitement. "I was going to take Sanji out tomorrow for a ride! Show him all the sights! Doesn't that sound like fun?"</p><p>"<em>No</em>," Law and Kid echoed of each other.</p><p>"That sounds like a set up," Kid added suspiciously. "Killing us and feeding us to the fish isn't my idea of a good fucking time!"</p><p>"It wouldn't be <em>fish</em> eating you," Sanji chided. "There are sharks in the area, I believe."</p><p>"Big ones," Law murmured uncomfortably.</p><p>"Have you seen them? I find them fascinating. I can actually make a meal of them."</p><p>Law looked at him with discomfort as Sanji wore a cheerful smile. Luffy grinned. "Well, that's not on the list but <em>okay</em>! C'mon! Sanji likes to cook! He - !"</p><p>"He work at a restaurant, too?" Kid asked suspiciously, sneering at the man, who scowled right back. "Got a boss named, what's it…Zeff?"</p><p>Sanji looked surprised. "Yes, actually. Luffy told you that?"</p><p>Kid grabbed Law's jacket and shook him as they made their way up to the parking lot. "I'm not walking into this murder trap! You can go in my place! All my skin-hairs are tingling, warning me not to do it!"</p><p>Law shook him off, straightening his jacket. "Where's your sense of adventure, <em>Eustess</em>? Don't you want to see how this ends? Maybe we're the only ones to truly end it!"</p><p>Luffy looked at them with a puzzled face while Sanji looked to Luffy with concern. With a shake of his head, Luffy led the way. "You guys are <em>crazy</em>. The story ended back then – it's a new beginning! Let's make it a better ending! Ha ha!"</p><p>"I think you forgot to mention some parts," Sanji scolded Luffy. "I feel like the butt of some joke!"</p><p>"Oh, I mentioned <em>all</em> the parts!" Luffy chuckled. "All the important ones! Besides, don't worry about those two – they like to make fun of Canadians because you're all so nice!"</p><p>"Not from where I'm from," Sanji muttered with a bitter look, trudging after him.</p><p>Both Kid and Law looked after the pair with uncertainty, then looked at each other. Both of their expressions clearly dared the other to continue on with them – neither of them liked to back down, but neither of them had the want to find out the worst.</p><p>Kid held out a pale fist. "Bet you it's true."</p><p>After some moments of consideration, Law hit his knuckles with his own, causing Kid to wince. "You're right, but now I'm going to finish it."</p><p>"That's exactly what you said back then."</p><p>"That <em>wasn't</em> me!"</p><p>"<em>Hah</em>! We'll see…"</p>
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